Nearly 15,000 judgments were pronounced last year against minors, an increase of 6%, said Monday the Federal Office for Statistics. The largest increase concerns violations of the criminal code and the law on road traffic.
Minors were sentenced in 43% of cases to a personal benefit, such as participating in a course or performing work of public utility.
Keystone
Last year, 105,440 adult convictions were entered in the criminal record, 3% less than the previous year. Over the same period, 14,773 judgments were pronounced against minors, up 6%.
As in previous years, most adult convictions relate to traffic law violations (53%), according to figures released Monday by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).
The new sanctions regime, in force since January 1, 2018, has reinstated short conditional sentences. As expected, sentences of this type are increasing sharply: their number increased from 61 in 2017 to 2,733 in 2018 and to 3,507 in 2019.
Conditional monetary penalty
Despite this increase, conditional sentences only represent 6% of adult convictions. The most frequent sanction remains the suspended monetary penalty. It is the main punishment in 69% of convictions in 2019.
Among minors, the upward trend is as much for offenses under the penal code (+ 10%) as for those under the law on road traffic (+ 13%) or on narcotics (+ 3%).
Public utility work
Minors were sentenced in 43% of cases to a personal benefit, such as participating in a course or performing work of public utility. The proportion is particularly high (58%) among young people under 15 years of age. The reprimand, a formal reprobation issued by the public prosecutor’s office for minors or the juvenile court, was also often pronounced (27%).
The fine and deprivation of liberty, which can only be imposed from the age of 15, were pronounced in 26% and 7% of the convictions for 15-17 year olds respectively. Protective measures – most often personal assistance – were ordered in 472 judgments.
Almost 2000 evictions
There were 1980 expulsions from the country last year. In 90% of cases, these are compulsory evictions, which concern foreigners convicted of one of the offenses referred to in article 66a of the penal code, for example murder, incitement or assisted suicide as well as punishable termination of pregnancy. Eleven percent of those sentenced to eviction had a B or C permit.
Both the gravity of the offense and the residence status of the convicted persons influence whether or not an expulsion is actually ordered. For serious crimes, such as homicide or rape, the risk of eviction is 80 times higher than for an offense such as unlawful receipt of social assistance benefits.
(ATS / NXP)
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