P067. Juvenile Justice for Adults?

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Abstract

On 20 December 2022, a ninety-seven-year-old former nazi concentration camp secretary was sentenced in a juvenile court for crimes committed as a teenager. Two years earlier, a ninety-three-year-old former SS guard was similarly sentenced in a non-public juvenile trial. These cases highlight an issue worth further examination. When offenders are tried as adults for crimes committed as juveniles, should adult or juvenile criminal law be applied?

Aside from the exceptional cases used as examples, the phenomenon of defendants reaching the age of majority between the commission of the offense and the start of their trial is in fact not an uncommon occurrence. In Germany, it has been a subject of extensive discourse within the domain of legal dogmatics. This project, however, aims to shift the focus from a dogmatic debate to what is criminologically desirable. It sets out to explore the hypothesis that the educational methods employed in the treatment of underage offenders are also more effective in promoting legal probation in young adults than the sanctions of adult criminal law, which often only consist of fines and imprisonment. This is in opposition to punitive tendencies in juvenile justice.

By focusing on the criminological implications of sentencing adults for offenses committed as juveniles, the project invites discussions on the balance of rehabilitation and accountability in juvenile justice. It also poses questions regarding the appropriateness of applying adult criminal law to individuals whose development may still benefit from juvenile justice methods. Ultimately it advocates for a criminologically informed approach that prioritizes the potential of educative measures for rehabilitation and reintegration over retributive approaches.

Author

• Peet Burmeister, Freie Universität Berlin