“The capacity of understanding and will” of the minor who commits a crime “is presumed until proven otherwise”. The Government launches a new law against juvenile crime and changes the rules on the criminal liability of children aged 14 to 18. Until now, in fact, the judge had to ascertain on a case-by-case basis whether the minor was capable of understanding and will, with the bill approved in the afternoon by the Council of Ministers now “the burden of proof is reversed”.
«Those who make mistakes must answer for their actions. Even when he is a minor” says Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in a video message, commenting on the measure which will not be immediately operational, but will have to be approved by Parliament.
«Those who attack, those who rob, those who devastate – underlines the prime minister – must always pay, even if they are 15 or 16 years old. This is why we have acted and continue to act: arrest for minors caught with a weapon, strict rules against the spread of knives, harsher penalties for group damage. Today a further step.”
According to the prime minister, “firmness without alternatives is not enough but alternatives without firmness do not solve the problem.” Then he adds: «Some results are starting to be seen and this is why we want to insist. A just State has the courage to change the rules when they don’t work and has the duty to be severe with those who make mistakes but also present with those who risk getting lost, because there is no true freedom without responsibility.”
Nordio: «The age for criminal liability is not being lowered»
The bill, which introduces changes to article 98 of the penal code, aims to “facilitate investigations”, Justice Minister Carlo Nordio claims in a press conference at Palazzo Chigi.
«It is the final piece – he says – of a whole series of measures, starting with the Caivano decree which were adopted following the increase in juvenile delinquency».
The Keeper of the Seals speaks of a “relative presumption” which is not “absolute” as it is “subject to proof to the contrary” and specifies that the law “does not lower the age for the imputability of the minor, which remains 14 years, and the penalties have not been increased, but the burden of proof is reversed”.
Criticism from the opposition and Save the Children
And the bill has drawn harsh criticism from the opposition. For the head of Security of the Democratic Party, Matteo Mauri, “it criminalizes an entire generation”.
«Once again the government chooses the path of propaganda and repression instead of addressing the real causes of youth distress» attacks the dem.
In the same vein, the leader of the Democratic Party in the Chamber Chiara Braga: «Weak with the strong and strong with the weak: the slogan works very well for Prime Minister Meloni. Yesterday the immigrants, today the minors. There is never a limit to the desire to provide a scalp rather than solve a problem.”
Angelo Bonelli, AVS parliamentarian and co-spokesperson for Green Europe, speaks of an «authoritarian drift»: «Carlo Nordio’s words are very serious – claims Bonelli –. After six security decrees and the Caivano decree, the government admits that juvenile crime has increased. It is proof of the failure of right-wing policies: more propaganda, more repression, less security.”
Save the Children also took a position: «Youth violence represents a complex challenge that cannot be addressed by taking adult justice as a model – claims the organization -. As a rule, considering a minor over the age of fourteen as attributable risks transmitting a risky message: that the criminal response to the errors of adolescents must be the same as that of adults”.
Save the Children also recalls the decreasing data on sentences of non-prosecution for proven immaturity of minors between 14 and 18 years old, which went from 256 in 2004 to 60 in 2024.
Calderone: «No intervention in the study on law 231»
In terms of new provisions involving the theme of Justice, the hypothesis of an intervention on law 231, the one which concerns the responsibility of companies and safety at work, seems to be waning. The hypothesis envisaged the inclusion of rewards for entrepreneurs and managers, in the event that workplace safety requirements are respected, thanks to which they would only be liable for gross negligence.
«The Ministry of Labor has nothing in its drawers on this matter and is not studying this matter. At the moment we are not going in this direction and when I say that the Ministry of Labour, which has responsibilities in the field of safety at work, does not have a file on this issue, I am saying exactly that there is nothing compared to anticipations or inferences that someone may have made”, clarified the Minister of Labor and Social Policies, Marina Calderone.