Following the attack during Berlin’s Christopher Street Day, several state justice ministers are calling for a major shift in how young offenders are treated. The core of this demand is that, in the future, adult criminal law should generally apply to young people between the ages of 18 and 20, replacing the commonly used juvenile justice system which provides milder sanctions, according to “Welt am Sonntag.”
Berlin’s Justice Senator, Felor Badenberg (CDU), advocates for the regular application of adult criminal law to all adults. She argues that juvenile law should only be used exceptionally, in cases with particularly strong justification. Badenberg noted that adults are granted full legal capacity and can influence the composition of parliament through their right to vote. She believes that currently, applying juvenile law to offenders under 21, even in cases of serious crime, is outdated.
Badenberg has announced a Federal Council initiative that includes several legal changes. Among these reforms is revising the rules for young offenders under the Juvenile Justice Act. Furthermore, the Justice Senator intends to strengthen penalties for spreading ISIS propaganda. She also proposes that state security chambers of regional courts should become responsible for state protection offenses, even if the suspect is a minor or a young offender.
Similarly, Saxony’s Justice Minister, Constanze Geiert, also calls for a “reversal” of the current practice in youth criminal law. Geiert told “Welt am Sonntag” that the recent events highlight the urgent need for action regarding the juvenile justice system, stating that current regulations often fail to adequately reflect the reality of serious violent crimes committed by young people.
While Geiert stressed that the educational component in dealing with young offenders remains “right and important,” she warned that this cannot lead to the absence or unnecessary bureaucratic delay of necessary and consistent responses from the rule of law. Therefore, she also insists that adult criminal law should generally apply to young people; juvenile law should be the exceptional case requiring justification, not the rule.
Geiert rejected proposals that only apply adult criminal law to designated “risky individuals.” In her view, a fundamental overhaul of the juvenile justice system is more sustainable and should not only focus on those labeled as high-risk. She pointed out that the term “risk individual” is currently not defined in the criminal code and that there is a general structural increase in serious juvenile crime that the legislature must address within the criminal law framework.
