Juvenile Criminal Law in Germany: Between Protection and Justice

The German juvenile justice system is based on the continental European model of justice. Juvenile justice interventions are restricted to behavior violating the penal code. They are geared toward education (“education instead of punishment”). Diversion obtained major importance in the 1980s and 1990s (in 1999 69% of all decisions by prosecutors or judges were dismissals on the grounds of their discretionary power). At the same time custodial sanctions have been reduced (short-term detention and youth custody of six months up to five or ten years), although the crime rate, particularly for violent offences, increased in the 1990s. One distinct feature of the German juvenile justice system is that young adults (18–21) are handled by juvenile courts. They are sentenced according to the milder sanctions of the juvenile justice act, particularly in serious cases of violent crimes. The paper describes the development of the sentencing practice and the problems of an unequal practice when comparing regional disparities. Some trends suggest an increase in penalties in juvenile crime policy (promoted by the conservative parties which are in opposition to the government). However, the practice has maintained its moderate and rational style of sentencing by refusing the “getting tough” policies of the Anglo-Saxon world.