Legislative proposal for children driven to crime in Parliament: Path to life imprisonment opened for 15-18 age group

The AKP has submitted an 18-article legislative proposal to the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) that envisions changes to seven separate laws concerning children driven to crime. The general justification for the proposal highlights factors such as recent incidents of severe violence committed by children, peer bullying, and the exploitation of children by criminal organizations.

According to the new regulation, the age-based reduction rates recognized by current laws are being changed. For acts requiring aggravated life imprisonment, the sentence to be given to children aged 15-18 will be increased from 12-15 years to 13-18 years. In cases requiring life imprisonment, this period will be raised from 9-11 years to 10-12 years.

Furthermore, for children in the 15-18 age group who commit the crimes of intentional killing and injury resulting in death, age-based reductions may not be applied, taking into account criteria such as the manner in which the crime was committed, the motive, and criminal history. Thus, it will become possible for children in this age group to receive life imprisonment.

With the proposal, the term "child driven to crime" in the legislation will be changed to "child in the judicial process" to prevent prejudice during the investigation phase. Significant changes are also being made to the execution system, ending the practice where juvenile convicts serve their sentences directly in juvenile training centers. Execution will begin in closed juvenile penal institutions, and a transfer to training centers will only be possible upon a determination of good conduct.

On the other hand, the rule in the current regulation where every day a child spends in a penal institution counts as two days will no longer be valid for crimes of intentional killing, crimes against sexual immunity, drug trafficking, and establishing an organization.

Another notable article in the legislative proposal concerns individual armament and negligence. In cases where firearms are kept in environments such as homes or vehicles without necessary security measures and these weapons are seized by children, individuals who act in violation of their duty of care will be sentenced to 1 to 3 years in prison.

News Source: 12punto