Shots fired at school

Children in Finland are only criminally liable from the age of 15

On Tuesday, a twelve-year-old fired a gun at his classmates.(Bild: AFP)

Time and again, horrifying acts by children under the age of 14 who have already committed murder are shocking. For example, on Tuesday in Finland, where a child of just twelve fired shots at his classmates at a school. Another twelve-year-old child was killed in the process.

Acts like these leave us stunned. One child (12) was killed and two others seriously injured in a shooting attack by a twelve-year-old at a school near the Finnish capital Helsinki. What will happen to the suspect, who has already been arrested, is unclear - as is the background to the crime.

The suspect has already been arrested.(Bild: AP)

While in Austria, as in many other EU countries, the age of criminal responsibility begins at 14, in Finland, Sweden and Denmark, for example, the age limit is only 15. In most EU countries, suspected offenders, such as Tuesday's offender in Finland, are not prosecuted because, according to social and educational science, they are not yet capable of insight and control and are therefore not culpable.

Slight increase in juvenile delinquency
In Austria, the debate about the age of criminal responsibility flared up again after a gang rape of a 12-year-old girl, in which some of the perpetrators were under 14. Calls for the age of criminal responsibility to be lowered became louder once again.

A study by the Institute for Criminology and Legal Policy shows that juvenile crime in Finland has fallen noticeably since the 1990s and has largely remained at a stable level in recent years. Recently, however, there has been a slight increase. Both Police Director Seppo Kolehmainen and Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo (Green Party) expressed their concerns about the rise in youth crime during the coronavirus pandemic last year.