Sweden To Lower Age Of Criminal Responsibility As Youth Violence Soars

Stockholm: Sweden's government announced plans Wednesday to reduce the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 13 to combat the soaring recruitment of children to carry out shootings and bombings for organised crime networks.

The Scandinavian country has struggled to contain a surge in the networks' violent crime for more than a decade, linked primarily to score-settling and battles to control the drug market.

"The number of suspected crimes involving children under the age of 15 has doubled in a decade. And the suspects in deadly shootings have become increasingly younger," the coalition right-wing government and its far-right ally the Sweden Democrats wrote in a piece published in the Expressen daily.

"This evolution must be stopped," they said.

Young teens are being recruited on encrypted apps to carry out crimes in exchange for money, so older criminals do not risk getting caught and because they know the youths will not face long prison sentences due to their age.

The leaders of the networks also increasingly orchestrate operations from abroad, according to police.

"We have agreed to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 13 for certain serious crimes such as murder and aggravated bombings," the government said, adding that the measure would be in place for a limited period of five years.

The government came to power in 2022 vowing to crack down on crime.

With three years under its belt and the next election due in September 2026, the country is still experiencing almost-daily shootings and bombings in public places, occasionally claiming innocent victims.

Deadly shootings have declined in recent years but the bombings have increased, statistics show.

"We still have levels of violence that no decent society can accept."

Children's rights organisation BRIS said the move risked being "counterproductive".

"The police authority said it sees a big risk that the gang criminals will recruit even younger children," BRIS secretary general Maria Frisk said.

The government listed a series of other measures it had taken or would be taking to combat youth crime.

They included establishing special prison wards for youths instead of the current system of youth residences, abolishing more lenient sentences for youths, and enabling police to use coercive measures against children to get at the criminals ordering the crimes.

The government has also ordered social services to improve their preventive efforts, and abolished confidentiality barriers between schools, police and social services to improve communication.

The government did not say when the age change would come into force.

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