Chamber passes new criminal code which would lower age of criminal responsibility to 14

The Chamber of Deputies has voted to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 14. That is one of a number of changes envisaged in a new criminal code, which would completely overhaul a code created in 1961 that has only been amended since that time; it would also increase jail terms for particularly serious crimes, as well as making greater use of alternative forms of punishment. Speaking after Tuesday’s vote, the minister of justice, Jiří Pospíšil, described it as an historic moment. The new criminal code now has to go before the Senate.