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Proposal made to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 12 in Russia

Chairman of the Russian Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin

26 June 2026 14:50 (UTC +04:00)

A proposal has been made to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 12 in Russia, APA's Moscow bureau reports.

The initiative was announced by Chairman of the Russian Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin during his speech at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum.

“We proposed lowering the age of criminal responsibility for juveniles to 12, but found no support,” he said.

According to Bastrykin, teenagers now mature more quickly and commit crimes at the age of 12 or 13, but are not held criminally liable.

Citing England as an example, he said that the minimum age of criminal responsibility there is 10.

Note that under current Russian law, criminal responsibility begins at the age of 16, and at 14 for certain serious crimes. Last autumn, President Vladimir Putin signed a law lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 14 for sabotage-related crimes.

Farid Akbarov

Russia criminal responsibility age of criminal responsibility juveniles Alexander Bastrykin Russian Investigative Committee St. Petersburg International Legal Forum Vladimir Putin legislation crime