Bill Amending the Juvenile Courts Act
Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Änderung des Jugendgerichtsgesetz (August 2007)
On 8 August 2007, the cabinet adopted a bill amending the Juvenile Courts Act. With this legislative project, legal protection in the juvenile penal system is given a structure which is appropriate to youth.
The planned new provisions reflect some specifications which were handed down in rulings of the Federal Constitutional Court. In its ruling of 31 May 2006, the Court called upon the legislature to change the juvenile corrections system by introducing legal recourse provisions which correspond to the special situation of juvenile inmates. Since the reform of the Federal system entered into force in September 2006, the Länder have had the legislative powers for the prison system. But the Federation continues to be the competent legislator in matters of legal protection by the Court.
In future, Juvenile Divisions will normally hand down rulings pronounced by a single judge. In cases of fundamental significance and in case of specific difficulties on a point of law, the judge will submit the matter to the Juvenile Division for a decision or as a referral. In future, inmates in the juvenile prison system will have a right to a hearing. And the Länder are given an opportunity to introduce mediation proceedings prior to a court hearing. They are also considered as a means to ease the courts’ caseload.
In future, a juvenile inmate disagreeing with the disciplinary measure taken against him/her, for example, can present his/her arguments and objections in a personal hearing. This hearing will normally be held in the custody centre itself, or it will be a hearing before the Juvenile Division. The prisoner therefore has an opportunity to present his/her concerns directly. And the court is given an opportunity to explain to the complainant orally the probability of a successful legal remedy and his/her legal situation. This will lead to a quicker conclusion of many cases.
The Juvenile Courts Act is also extended to include a specific pro-vision defining the objectives of juvenile criminal law. Pursuant to the Act, its primary purpose is to prevent repeat offences of juvenile (14- to 17-year-old) and adolescent (18- to 20-year old) offenders.
The “Second Act amending the Juvenile Courts Act and related Legislation” (Zweites Gesetz zur Änderung des Jugendgerichtsge-setzes und anderer Gesetze) was adopted by the Bundestag on 13 December 2007 and entered into force on 1 January 2008.
The text of the Act is available at: http://www.bgblportal.de/BGBL/bgbl1f/bgbl107s2894.pdf
