In July 2023, a new law entered into force that gives prosecutors the opportunity to initiate evidentiary proceedings on their own against those under the age of 15, who are not of legal age, and who are suspected of serious crime. This means that the court decides through a legal process whether the child in question has committed the crime.
Up until the end of July this year, evidentiary proceedings have been brought in 19 cases against 21 children. SVT has gone through all 14 judgments that have come so far and in 13 of the cases it has been established that the children committed crimes.
Several of them have already been known to social services from an early age before the crime occurred, often due to reports of concern from school or the police.
– It reflects the development we see, that the performers are getting younger and younger. We also arrest more people today, and it shows in the statistics, says Hanna Paradis, former commanding officer at the police’s national operational department, Noa.
No penalties
Half of the sentences deal with either murder, attempted murder or preparation for murder. But since they are under 15, there will be no penalties.
Instead, the aim is that the court’s decision can be used as a basis for the social service’s assessments of interventions.
– What will be the difference is that there will be an additional cost to pursue this type of investigation with legal proceedings. But the penalty for children under 15 has not been changed, it will be the same consequence, says District Attorney Lisa Dos Santos.