Vorarlberg lawyer rejects lower age of criminal responsibility

A Vorarlberg lawyer has rejected calls to lower the age of criminal responsibility, following a case in which two 13-year-olds allegedly knocked down and seriously injured a 72-year-old man in Dornbirn. The case has prompted an emotional debate, ORF reports.

Andrea Concin, a lawyer specialising in juvenile criminal law, said public concern was understandable but questioned whether it justified changing the age limit. She said she had seen no scientific evidence or studies showing that a lower age was needed.

Politicians including Vorarlberg Governor Markus Wallner and regional security councillor Markus Klien have backed lowering the age to 12. Concin said comparisons with Switzerland, where criminal responsibility begins at 10, often omit important details: children aged 10 to 14 there cannot be sentenced to prison or fined.

Instead, Swiss courts can order protective measures, such as addiction or anti-aggression therapy, as well as social work and family support. Concin said similar measures in Austria are handled by guardianship courts.

Concin said prison should be a last resort for young offenders and that intervention should start much earlier. She cited Denmark, where children and teenagers aged six to 16 take a compulsory weekly class on empathy and ways to resolve conflicts without violence.

She was also sceptical about Vienna’s “Auszeit-WG”, a supervised residence where young people under 14 who are below the age of criminal responsibility have been placed for periods of six to 12 weeks since July 2026. Concin raised constitutional concerns and said the costs were high, adding that it remained to be seen whether the scheme would work.

Concin said the impression that juvenile crime is rising is largely subjective and fuelled by coverage of high-profile offences. She cited Swiss figures indicating that juvenile crime accounts for up to two per cent of all offences, calling it a marginal problem.

She nevertheless said juvenile justice could be reformed by allowing courts to impose community service after a conviction. She said this would give young people consequences for their actions while allowing them to contribute positively to society.

Sigrid Hämmerle-Fehr, head of psychotherapy at the Institute for Social Services, also opposed lowering the age of criminal responsibility. She said detention was not the right answer to young people’s difficulties and that imprisonment could not make up for shortcomings in upbringing or socialisation.