Sweden has a problem with gang crime – minors are often involved. (archive)Image: EPA
In Sweden, which is plagued by serious gang crime, offenders as young as 13 are to be housed in youth prisons from next summer.
October 28, 2025, 03:51October 28, 2025, 03:51
The government in Stockholm had long ago commissioned the state penitentiary authority to create departments in prisons for 15- to 17-year-olds who have committed serious crimes. This task will now be expanded and should also include 13 and 14 year olds, the Swedish Ministry of Justice announced.
Sweden has been struggling for years with criminal gangs that repeatedly recruit minors to commit serious crimes, including murder, for them. According to current law, 13- and 14-year-olds are not yet of criminal responsibility – a legislative proposal from Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s liberal-conservative government is intended to change this in the future for particularly serious crimes.
Lowering the age of criminal responsibility for the most serious crimes is important, among other things, to protect society, but also to help children leave the criminal path, explained Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer. He spoke of initially 100 to 150 places for offenders aged 13 to 17.
According to the government, the separate youth departments should be ready for use from July 1, 2026. Departments for boys are to be created in six prisons and for girls in two. The younger and older young people should be separated from each other – and the whole thing must not violate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, as the ministry made clear. (sda/dpa)