Sweden’s parliament votes Thursday on a bill that would allow 14-year-olds to be sent to prison for the most serious crimes. If approved, the change takes effect on September 10, 2026.
According to DR, the vote in the Riksdag is scheduled for today, Thursday, August 13. The bill would lower the age of criminal responsibility to 14 for offenses such as murder, attempted murder, aggravated rape, kidnapping and weapons crimes.
The proposal also toughens sentences generally for offenders under 18. As reported by DR, those convicted would serve their sentences in prison rather than in special youth homes. The measure would apply for five years.
One of the facilities being prepared is Rosersberg prison, half an hour north of Stockholm. Adult inmates were moved out last year, and the new children and youth wings were completed on July 1, 2026. Prison governor Gabriel Wessman told DR that the site has 20 places and cells of 10 to 11 square meters, and that it is no luxury prison.
The government says the reform is needed because more children and young people in Sweden are committing serious crime. In a statement from the Swedish government in July, Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer said society is not being protected from lethal violence and that children are not being helped out of destructive patterns.
DR cites figures from the Swedish prosecution authority showing that 12 children under 15 were suspected of murder or of planning a murder in 2019. In 2025, that number had risen to 173. Last year, two boys aged 13 and 14 were found guilty of shooting and killing a 25-year-old man in a crowded Stockholm restaurant.
Swedish police figures from 2025 put the number of active gang criminals at about 17,500, with roughly 50,000 people linked to criminal networks. A government-commissioned inquiry found that network leaders have begun recruiting ever younger people to carry out crimes. Reuters has also reported that the measure is part of a broader push against youth gang crime.
Criticism and political timing
The government originally proposed lowering the age to 13, but dropped that after criticism from the Swedish prison service, the prosecution authority and UNICEF, which said it conflicted with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The opposition Green Party says it has consistently rejected lowering the age, warning that networks will recruit even younger children.
In July, 48 organizations, including Human Rights Watch, Save the Children in Sweden and the Swedish psychologists’ association, urged politicians to drop the bill entirely, arguing it was insufficiently prepared. DR notes that the vote comes one month before Sweden’s general election on September 13, with law and order high on voters’ agenda. Passage is expected because the opposition Social Democrats had earlier proposed lowering the age by one year.
