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The Council has acted on a corresponding bill. But experts disagree.
Underage youths who have committed murder should be able to be held in custody once the protective measures have been completed. This if they could still be dangerous for third parties. That’s what the Federal Council wants. The bourgeois camp in the Council of States has now decided to go along with the proposal.
But experts disagree. For example, from Marcel Riesen-Kupper, head of the senior youth prosecutor’s office in the canton of Zurich: “We already have the opportunity to act with such perpetrators. We don’t need custody.” Switzerland is currently internationally envied for the good law.
Legend:
Young people who have committed a murder between the ages of 16 and 18 should be able to be kept after the protective measures have been completed – if they are still dangerous to third parties. This is what the Federal Council and the Council of States want.
Keystone/AP/Martin Meissner
But what is it about? In Switzerland, around one perpetrator between the ages of 16 and 18 commits a murder every year. If this person is convicted, they will be imprisoned. If she remains dangerous, she may remain in a closed facility. But the legal options in the youth criminal law end at the age of 25.
Custody in severe cases
The bourgeois Council of States now wants to close this gap and write the incarceration of such perpetrators into law. Because: “If someone is still a danger to third parties at the age of 25, then we have to treat them accordingly,” said Andrea Caroni, member of the FDP Council of States.
In other words, even if the perpetrator was still a minor when the crime was committed, it should be allowed to be kept in custody.
Puberty triggers turbulence in many young people. You have to take this phase of life into account pedagogically, also with a certain serenity.
Experts like Marcel Riesen-Kupper, on the other hand, complain that detention has no place in the youth criminal law: “Puberty triggers turbulence in many young people. You have to take this phase of life into account pedagogically, also with a certain serenity. Because the young people will stabilize later.”
resocialization central
One thing is clear: in juvenile criminal law, the perpetrator is in the foreground. Appropriate protective measures and penalties are used to prevent young people from committing further crimes. The focus is on the rehabilitation of young people. In contrast to adult criminal law, in which the crime is in the foreground.
The majority in the Council of States did not accept this argument. Andrea Caroni pointed out that the Federal Council had deliberately narrowed down the group of perpetrators. The vast majority of young offenders are not affected by the law.
But: «The law should ultimately cover the whole range. It must be a murder and there must be a risk of further murders, i.e. qualified killings, »said Caroni. Only then would custody be possible.
discussion continues
The fact is, according to Riesen-Kupper: “The measures ordered for young offenders in Switzerland are successful in the vast majority of cases.” And for the few others, you can always find a solution. According to Riesen-Kupper, writing in custody now would make juvenile criminal law worse.
Discussions on custody in the Juvenile Criminal Law Act continue. The next step is for the National Council to discuss the bill.