There will be no criminal liability from the age of 13

The Luxembourg Government has been forced to review a wide-ranging reform of the juvenile justice system after the Council of State identified serious legal inconsistencies in the draft legislation. The package of three bills, first introduced by the previous government four years ago, aims to clearly distinguish between child protection measures and criminal law. Although the relevant ministers, Élisabeth Margue and Claude Meisch, made amendments to the texts last year, the updated versions have once again faced formal objections from the country’s highest advisory body.

A key element of the reform is Bill 7991, which establishes, for the first time in Luxembourg, a specialised criminal law framework for minors. The bill sets the age of criminal responsibility at 13. The emphasis is on a rehabilitative approach: young people who acknowledge their guilt and cooperate with the investigation will be eligible for alternative sanctions. 

However, the State Council raised six formal objections to this document. The provision allowing minors to waive their right to a lawyer gave rise to the greatest concern. The advisory body insists on mandatory legal representation given the vulnerability of this age group. Furthermore, the rules governing the exchange of data between the police and the Ministry of Family Affairs were criticised, as was the lack of clear regulations governing the interaction between the judicial system and the National Child Welfare Agency.

The second bill, number 7994, aims to completely separate criminal prosecution from the mechanisms for the protection of minors. Under this initiative, the National Directorate for Children’s Affairs is to become the central body overseeing both voluntary support measures and court proceedings. However, the State Council has highlighted legal uncertainty regarding parental authority and criticised the possibility of closed hearings before juvenile court judges. In the Council’s view, court hearings should, by default, remain public, and closed-door proceedings should only be permitted in exceptional cases.

A similar situation has arisen with the third bill, No. 7992, which regulates the protection of juvenile witnesses and victims of crime. The bill has been sent back for further drafting due to the use of vague wording that does not provide sufficient legal clarity before the laws come into force.