Juvenile Delinquency in Latvia Dr. Andrejs Judins, senior researcher of the Centre for Public Policy Providus

Criminal Law: Juveniles Age of criminal liability – 14 Neither particular Juvenile Justice Law, nor Juvenile courts exist in Latvia Criminal Law (1998); Criminal Procedure Law (2005), provided favourable features (peculiarities) for juveniles Law on the Application of Compulsory Educational Measures to Children (2002) A.Judins, SPC Providus ©

The official information on juvenile delinquency in Latvia is quite limited and evidently it reflects only part of processes related to the antisocial behaviour of children. It has objective reasons related to the following: the latent character of crime, including juvenile delinquency (a); the failure of victims to report offences that have been committed that is related to distrust in public institutions and their abilities to resolve a criminal offence and to promote the restoration of justice (b); the objective impossibility of resolving several offences and of identifying offenders (c); failure to report offences of juveniles that is related to the awareness that on the whole instruments of criminal justice do not correspond to needs of children and it would be better to protect the child against the reaction of the state to the offence that to turn the child over to criminal justice (d); failure to report offences committed by children, considering them to be insignificant (e). A.Judins, SPC Providus ©

Formal approach: Juvenile delinquency as a component of crime is a category of criminology used to the body of criminal offences committed by children at the age of 14 to 17, its trends at a specific time and in a specific territory. What about children under 14

In criminal offences were registered in Latvia, while the number of criminal offences committed by juveniles amounted to In criminal offences were registered; criminal offences were committed by juveniles. In persons were identified as offenders, i.e juveniles (9,4 %) In 2009: persons were identified as offenders, i.e juveniles (7,4 %) A.Judins, SPC Providus ©

Number of juveniles and young persons (under the age of 20) in Latvia during

Number of juveniles (14-17 y.o.) in Latvia during year age

Number of juveniles who have committed criminal offences in year number of juveniles

Structure of crimes committed by juveniles in A.Judins, SPC Providus © Murders Serious bodily injuries Rape555 2 Robberies Thefts including thefts from apartments including thefts from trade outlets including thefts from automobiles including automobile thefts Hooliganism

Convicted juveniles who committed criminal offences in a group in year number of convicted juveniles

Convicted juveniles in 2009 total number of juveniles girls Deprivation of liberty Released from punishment Compulsory Educational Measures released from criminal liability less than 1 year 1> - 3 years 3.-5 years 5 > -10 years > 10 Conditional sentence Fine Unpaid work

Juveniles in Prison A.Judins, SPC Providus © Source: Latvian prison administration

Legislative reform: Promising practice Strengthen the System of Educational Compulsory measures (2010); Criminal Law amendments (2009) (regarding to the deprivation of liberty), Criminal Procedure law (2005)

Article 65 of the Criminal Law Application of Punishment for Minors (1) The following forms of basic punishment shall apply for minors: 1) deprivation of liberty; 2) custodial arrest; 3) community service; or 4) fine, as well as the additional punishments provided for in this Law. (2) For a person who has committed a criminal offence before reaching 18 years of age, the period of deprivation of liberty may not exceed: 10 years - for especially serious crimes; 5 years - for serious crimes, which are associated with violence or the threat of violence, or have given rise to serious consequences; 2 years – for other serious crimes. For criminal violations and for less serious and serious crimes the penalty of deprivation of liberty shall not be applied for such person.

Deprivation of liberty as a punishment for juvenile offenders Maximum term of the deprivation of liberty Type of offenceADULTSJUVENILES Criminal violation 2 Not applicable Less serious crime (through negligence) 10 Not applicable Less serious crime (deliberately) 5 Not applicable Serious crime (through negligence) 202 Serious crime (deliberately) 102 or 5 (if crime was associated with violence or the threat of violence, or had given rise to serious consequences) Especially serious crime 20 or Life sentence 10

Compulsory Educational Measures a warning; the obligation to apologize to victims if the latter agree to meet the perpetrator; to transfer the child to the warranty of parents or guardians or other persons, institutions or organisations; to impose the obligation to eliminate consequences of the damage incurred by his her work; as concerns a child who has reached the age of 15 and who has his/her income – to impose the obligation to compensate for the incurred damage; to impose the obligation to perform community service; to place the child in an educational institution of social correction Children from 11 to 13 years of age Children from 14 to 17 years of age

Promising practice Unpaid work (Community Service): as a Criminal Punishment and as a Compulsory Educational Measure

Conciliation as an instrument for Justice Restoration (VOM, Conferencing (2009) Promising practice Programs of social behaviour and rehabilitation State Probation Service (2004)

Thank you!