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Barn bakom galler? En granskning av den nuvarande straffmyndighetsåldern i förhållande till kommittédirektiv 2023:112

Andréewitch, Nora LU (2024) LAGF03 20241
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract (Swedish)
Sveriges nuvarande regering har i kommittédirektiv 2023:112 föreslagit en sänkning av straffmyndighetsåldern. Anledningen är den extraordinära situat-ion som uppstått i Sverige vad gäller ungdomsbrottslighet med koppling till gängkriminalitet. Polisen har under den senaste tiden rapporterat att allt yngre personer kan kopplas till allvarliga våldsbrott och kriminella nätverksuppgö-relser. Regeringen vill att samhället ska agera med lämpliga åtgärder för att kunna bryta en kriminell livsstil hos barn, men samtidigt finns det olika skäl till att straffmyndighetsåldern idag är bestämd till 15 år och inte en lägre ålder.
I denna uppsats utreds först och främst vilka motiv som finns bakom dagens straffmyndighetsålder. Vidare utreds hur... (More)
Sveriges nuvarande regering har i kommittédirektiv 2023:112 föreslagit en sänkning av straffmyndighetsåldern. Anledningen är den extraordinära situat-ion som uppstått i Sverige vad gäller ungdomsbrottslighet med koppling till gängkriminalitet. Polisen har under den senaste tiden rapporterat att allt yngre personer kan kopplas till allvarliga våldsbrott och kriminella nätverksuppgö-relser. Regeringen vill att samhället ska agera med lämpliga åtgärder för att kunna bryta en kriminell livsstil hos barn, men samtidigt finns det olika skäl till att straffmyndighetsåldern idag är bestämd till 15 år och inte en lägre ålder.
I denna uppsats utreds först och främst vilka motiv som finns bakom dagens straffmyndighetsålder. Vidare utreds hur straffmyndighetsåldern regleras en-ligt barnkonventionen, vilket är viktigt i sammanhanget eftersom regeringen i kommittédirektivet framhåller att ett förslag om att sänka straffmyndighetsål-dern måste stå i överensstämmelse med barnkonventionen. Till sist undersöks hur motiven bakom den straffmyndighetsåldern som finns idag förhåller sig till det ovan nämnda kommittédirektivet samt hur direktivet förhåller sig till barnkonventionen. För att besvara uppsatsens frågeställningar tillämpas främst den rättsdogmatiska metoden. Materialet består framför allt av de all-mänt accepterade rättskällorna.
I undersökningen kommer jag fram till att de huvudsakliga motiv som finns till att dagens straffmyndighetsålder är 15 år är att unga är biologiskt omogna, att unga är sanktionskänsliga och att föräldrarna och socialtjänsten kan anses ha ett visst ansvar för ett ungt barns agerande. Vad gäller barnkonventionen är slutsatsen att det är tveksamt huruvida en sänkning är förenlig med regelver-ket, eftersom barnkonventionens regler fokuserar mer på att barn ska åtgärdas med hjälp av förebyggande åtgärder och sociala insatser, snarare än bestraff-ning efter det att brott har begåtts. Om straffmyndighetsåldern sänks ska sänkningen, enligt barnkonventionen, inte bestämmas till en allt för låg ålder. Den absoluta lägsta åldern som straffmyndighetsåldern bör bestämmas till är 12 år. (Less)
Abstract
In the government commission directive 2023:112, a reduction of the age of criminal responsibility is proposed. The reason behind the proposal is due to the extraordinary situation that has arisen in Sweden regarding youth crime linked to gang violence. The police have recently reported that increasingly younger individuals are becoming involved in serious violent crimes and criminal gang activities. The government wants society to take appropriate measures to break a criminal lifestyle among children. However, there are various reasons why the age of criminal responsibility is currently set at 15 years of age and not lower.
This essay first examines the motives behind the current age of criminal re-sponsibility. Furthermore, it... (More)
In the government commission directive 2023:112, a reduction of the age of criminal responsibility is proposed. The reason behind the proposal is due to the extraordinary situation that has arisen in Sweden regarding youth crime linked to gang violence. The police have recently reported that increasingly younger individuals are becoming involved in serious violent crimes and criminal gang activities. The government wants society to take appropriate measures to break a criminal lifestyle among children. However, there are various reasons why the age of criminal responsibility is currently set at 15 years of age and not lower.
This essay first examines the motives behind the current age of criminal re-sponsibility. Furthermore, it investigates how the age of criminal responsibil-ity is regulated according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is of importance in this context because the government emphasized in the commission directive that any proposal to lower the age of criminal responsi-bility must be in line with the Convention. Finally, the essay examines how the motives behind the current age of criminal responsibility relate to the commission directive and how a reduction relates to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. To address the essay’s research questions, primarily the legal dogmatic method is used. The material consists mainly of the generally accepted legal sources.
The investigation concludes that the main reasons for the current age of crimi-nal responsibility being set at 15 years are because young people are biologi-cally immature, they are sensitive to sanctions and that parents and social ser-vices may be considered to have some responsibility for a young child’s ac-tions. Regarding the Convention on the Rights of the Child it is, as far as I can conclude, questionable whether a reduction is in line with the Convention. This is because the Convention focuses more on the handling of children through preventative measures and social interventions rather than punishment after the crime has been committed. If the age of criminal responsibility is lowered, the reduction should not be set at too young an age, according to the Convention. The absolute lowest age at which the age of criminal responsibil-ity can be set is 12 years. (Less)
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author
Andréewitch, Nora LU
supervisor
organization
course
LAGF03 20241
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Straffrätt, brottsbalken, straffmyndighetsåldern, barnkonventionen
language
Swedish
id
9152360
date added to LUP
2024-06-26 11:35:17
date last changed
2024-06-26 11:35:17
@misc{9152360,
  abstract     = {{In the government commission directive 2023:112, a reduction of the age of criminal responsibility is proposed. The reason behind the proposal is due to the extraordinary situation that has arisen in Sweden regarding youth crime linked to gang violence. The police have recently reported that increasingly younger individuals are becoming involved in serious violent crimes and criminal gang activities. The government wants society to take appropriate measures to break a criminal lifestyle among children. However, there are various reasons why the age of criminal responsibility is currently set at 15 years of age and not lower. 
This essay first examines the motives behind the current age of criminal re-sponsibility. Furthermore, it investigates how the age of criminal responsibil-ity is regulated according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is of importance in this context because the government emphasized in the commission directive that any proposal to lower the age of criminal responsi-bility must be in line with the Convention. Finally, the essay examines how the motives behind the current age of criminal responsibility relate to the commission directive and how a reduction relates to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. To address the essay’s research questions, primarily the legal dogmatic method is used. The material consists mainly of the generally accepted legal sources. 
The investigation concludes that the main reasons for the current age of crimi-nal responsibility being set at 15 years are because young people are biologi-cally immature, they are sensitive to sanctions and that parents and social ser-vices may be considered to have some responsibility for a young child’s ac-tions. Regarding the Convention on the Rights of the Child it is, as far as I can conclude, questionable whether a reduction is in line with the Convention. This is because the Convention focuses more on the handling of children through preventative measures and social interventions rather than punishment after the crime has been committed. If the age of criminal responsibility is lowered, the reduction should not be set at too young an age, according to the Convention. The absolute lowest age at which the age of criminal responsibil-ity can be set is 12 years.}},
  author       = {{Andréewitch, Nora}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Barn bakom galler? En granskning av den nuvarande straffmyndighetsåldern i förhållande till kommittédirektiv 2023:112}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}