The Christian Social Union (CSU) wants to bring children who are currently below the age of criminal responsibility before a court following criminal offences. According to a draft resolution prepared for the CSU parliamentary group’s retreat in Kloster Seeon starting Tuesday, the party is calling for an extension of juvenile criminal law, lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 14 to 12.
For even younger offenders, the CSU is proposing the introduction of a court-led “responsibility procedure.” Under this model, criminal acts would be examined in court in the presence of the child and their parents. The process is also intended to serve victim-offender mediation, and could ultimately result in educational measures. Under current law, children under the age of 14 cannot be held criminally responsible.
“The rise in violent crime among children under 14 is alarming,” the draft resolution states, citing the reasons for the proposal. “More and more minors are being deliberately exploited as drug dealers because they are not criminally responsible. This is perfidious and undermines the rule of law.” The stated goal is to “prevent criminal careers before they begin.”
In its draft on internal security, the CSU outlines several additional demands. These include tougher penalties for knife attacks and expanding stalking laws to explicitly cover the covert use of GPS trackers to monitor victims. The party is also calling for the use of AI-based facial recognition at train stations, airports, and other public places to identify known suspects. In addition, the draft calls for decisive action against clan-related and drug-related crime.
“We are not just discussing the appearance of city centers; through our policies we are taking concrete action to improve security in public spaces,” said CSU parliamentary group leader Alexander Hoffmann in comments to Mediengruppe Bayern. “That means zero tolerance toward knife attackers, men who abuse women, and those who spread hatred against Jews.”
To further strengthen internal security, the CSU paper also calls for the option of counterattacks in response to cyberattacks. “We also want to enable targeted digital attacks on the infrastructure from which we were previously attacked,” the draft states. The party also wants to establish the legal framework for at least partially automated defenses against such attacks. The aim is a “cyber dome to defend against and prevent damage from cyberattacks.”
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