Justice minister Sam Tanson (déi Gréng), education and youth minister Claude Meisch (DP) and Renate Wintern, former chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child during a press conference on Tuesday presented the outcome of a reform that has been pending for several years.
Tanson’s predecessor, Félix Braz (déi Gréng) in 2018 had presented a draft law on juvenile delinquency and protection but the text faced heavy criticism and was eventually withdrawn when Tanson took office in 2019.
“It’s a sensitive topic, because it’s about the most vulnerable in our society,” the justice minister said on Tuesday. “A minor who commits a crime doesn’t do this out of the blue. You must ask yourself why they commit this crime.”
The three bills, which are now subject to review from parliament before they can be voted into force, update legislation from 1992. They separate juvenile delinquency, youth protection and the protection of underage victims and witnesses of crimes into three separate laws, a major improvement on the current legal framework.
No minors in adult prisons
“There are no more human rights violations,” said Winter, speaking of a “paradigm shift”. For example, under the new laws a minor cannot be incarcerated in an adult prison facility. Luxembourg had long faced criticism for allowing minors to be imprisoned together with adults. “I expect this never to happen again,” said Winter.
Unisec, a youth detention facility in Dreiborn, will be expanded to double capacity, Tanson said. This will increase the number of available places to 24. At the same time, a socio-educational centre (CSEE) will move out of the premises and re-focus its work on prevention at decentralised sites across the country.
Minors will be tried in civil proceedings--rather than under criminal law--and not be issued prison sentences under six months, Tanson said. Prison should not be used as a wake-up call but as a last resort, the minister said. Sentences will be cut in half for minors compared to adults, with a maximum sentence of ten years. Pre-trial detention is limited to three months but can be renewed for up to a maximum of one year depending on the progress of the investigation.
For minor offences, the law gives juvenile offenders the opportunity to agree on a diversion programme, for example to carry out social work. “It’s about acknowledging what happened, the impact this has on society and how they can make up for it,” Tanson said. Criminal records of youth offenders will be struck when they turn 18, unless a trial is still ongoing or sentence being served.
Children under the age of 14 won’t be tried and offenders aged 18 to 21 will be considered minors depending on an evaluation of their mental state. Children will also not be issued fines as they cannot pay these and the law should not discriminate between high and low-income families, Winter said.
Strengthening families
Luxembourg’s National Office for Children (ONE) under the reform will be more involved with families and in preventative work to “intervene earlier, stabilise situations earlier,” Meisch said.
The youth welfare office must be recognised as a place to get help across society, Meisch said. The ONE will provide counselling and support. “Families must be strengthened,” he said, adding that legal intervention should be a last step.
Winter, too, said that removing a child from a family punishes the child and doesn’t solve the problem. Luxembourg has one of the highest rates of children being placed in care in Europe, she said, adding that she expects this to go down under the new laws.
Where children are placed in care, parents will remain more involved, Meisch explained. There will also be a clearer legal basis and training for foster parents and carers as well as quality standards for youth shelters and care facilites.
“I’m very happy with the development in this country,” Winter said. “The protection of children is guaranteed.”
The plan is now for the bills to be discussed in parliament and voted before the 2023 summer break. With elections scheduled for October 2023, the bills risk being delayed further should they not be voted before then.