Swedish government withdraws plan to lower criminal age to 13

The Swedish government has withdrawn its proposal to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 13 for serious crimes carrying a minimum four-year sentence, such as murder and aggravated rape.

Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer (Moderates) announced at a press conference on Thursday that the proposal lacked sufficient support in parliament. He maintained, however, that a 13-year threshold would have been the right approach.

“I believe the responsible way, even though this is a very difficult issue, would have been to include 13-year-olds,” Strömmer told SVT.

The government now plans to propose lowering the age to 14 instead. Strömmer noted that 14-year-olds represent the largest group under 15 involved in serious crime, calling it a way to address an acute societal problem.

Denmark previously lowered its age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 14 for all crimes, but reversed the decision after two years when recidivism among 14-year-olds rose by 10 percent.

Swedish legal authorities and the Council on Legislation had criticized the 13-year proposal, with none of the over 100 consultation bodies supporting it. Data from the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå) also shows that young offenders of serious crimes are the most likely to reoffend after serving their sentences.