The CDU leader wants to punish young offenders more severely and apply adult criminal law more often than before. NRW Interior Minister Reul (CDU) is also in favor of it. The reactions in the traffic light coalition are unanimous. And the AfD accuses the Union’s demand of being “uncredible”.
CDU leader Friedrich Merz has provoked controversial reactions by calling for harsher punishments for young criminals. There is support for this from within our own ranks, but rejection from other parties.
The occasion is a current interview in “Picture on Sunday“. “Well, I have absolutely no understanding that we are talking about the right to vote at 16, but criminal responsibility for young people is between 18 and 21. And between the ages of 18 and 21 they are almost regularly sentenced under juvenile criminal law and not under adult criminal law,” said Merz. “I think we should change that.”
Merz did not go into further detail, not even when asked by WELT – so it remains unclear what exactly is meant. Essentially, the Union’s candidate for chancellor is concerned with punishing young offenders more harshly.
His statement also contains vagueness because the legal situation is complex. According to the criminal code, criminal responsibility in Germany begins at the age of 14. Until then, someone is considered innocent. Between the ages of 18 and 21, depending on the level of maturity of the perpetrator and therefore at the discretion of the courts, a distinction can be made between juvenile and adult criminal law. Merz is apparently aiming for the latter, although there are also calls in the Union for a reduction in the age of criminal responsibility.
In any case, Merz’s current demand is met with rejection in the traffic light factions. The Greens did not want to comment when asked, but have opposed such demands in the past. The SPD parliamentary group, on the other hand, is clear: “Friedrich Merz is letting the next populist test balloon rise here,” criticized SPD parliamentary group vice-president Dirk Wiese when asked by WELT. The current juvenile criminal law “focuses on the fact that the child – in the truest sense of the word – has not yet fallen into the well, but rather that young people can be gotten back on track.” Wiese believes it is “downright absurd that the CDU is targeting young people Permanently denies people the ability to vote from the age of 16, but now wants to make them liable through the back door under criminal law.”
In the Social Democrat’s opinion, it would be more important “that there are sufficient personnel in the justice system, youth welfare and prevention projects in the federal states so that young people don’t end up on the wrong path in the first place.” Here, “countries governed by the CDU in particular have a lot of catching up to do”, especially North Rhine-Westphalia.
The FDP parliamentary group is also distancing itself. “Friedrich Merz apparently fails to recognize that criminal responsibility in Germany begins at the age of 14,” emphasized their legal policy spokeswoman Katrin Helling-Plahr. Crimes committed by young people must be dealt with “with all possible consequences”. Juvenile criminal law is rightly based “on the conviction that young people who have committed crimes can still be guided onto the right path through educational measures”. Experience shows that such measures are more successful than mere retribution. “Wanting to deviate from this would actually be counterproductive. Our legal system also already has instruments in place for crimes committed by younger children – up to and including placement in closed homes,” Helling-Plahr told WELT.
It is important “that the state takes a consistent look and legal consequences follow immediately”. The Free Democrat referred to the security package that is being discussed in the Bundestag. The facilitated deportation of young people who have committed crimes is “right and important”.
The proposal does not do justice to children
The SPD and FDP’s stance is in line with the police union (GdP) and the German Lawyers Associationwho had already emphasized last year that lowering the limit of criminal responsibility would only satisfy resentments, but would ignore reality and would not do justice to the children.
AfD parliamentary group leader Alice Weidel also struck a critical tone towards Merz, but from a different perspective: “Mr. Merz’s statements are the CDU’s usual law-and-order noise when it once again tries to strategically signal to the right: half-baked and unbelievable.” Weidel recalled a draft law by her parliamentary group to reduce the age of juvenile criminal responsibility from 14 to twelve years, which was rejected by the other parliamentary groups, including the Union, in the summer.
The AfD is also calling for tougher measures for older offenders. “The age of majority begins at 18. This should apply to both electoral law and criminal law. Rather, we must begin by eliminating the far too frequent use of lenient juvenile criminal law for adults aged 18 to 21,” said Weidel. Penalties for violent crimes must be “significantly tightened and foreign perpetrators must be deported quickly and permanently.”
The debate about tightening criminal law has been simmering for a long time and has been fueled again and again by shocking crimes committed by children and young people in recent months. The German Police Union (DPolG), for example, advocates lowering the age of criminal responsibility to twelve years.
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) has also been thinking about this for a long time after there were fatal incidents in his state this year. In Freudenberg, for example, two girls aged twelve and 13 killed a twelve-year-old girl with a knife; in Oberhausen, the 15-year-old leader of a youth gang stabbed a 17-year-old and seriously injured other young people. Overall, the number of crimes committed by children and young people has increased significantly.
Reul therefore supports the demands of CDU party leader Merz. “The debate about criminal responsibility is not new, but it is important. I do believe that the children of that time are not comparable to the children of today,” said Reul when asked by WELT. Children today are growing up much earlier, so: “If children or young people attack others with a knife, beat them up or steal by force, then they should also be held responsible. Therefore, I still think a debate about changing the criminal responsibility makes sense.”
Political editor Kristian Frigelj is responsible for state political issues at WELT, especially in North Rhine-Westphalia.