What’s in Milei's bill to lower the age of criminal responsibility?

Argentina’s government wants to transform the country's specialised penal regime for minors. Its “Ley Penal Juvenil” would amend the existing Juvenile Criminal Regime and establish a new legal framework for adolescents in conflict with criminal law.

The core of the bill centres on lowering the age of criminal responsibility and creating a differentiated regime that combines punishment, educational measures, judicial oversight and social reintegration mechanisms under a framework specifically designed for minors.

The bill has been included on the agenda for the extraordinary sessions of Congress to be held between February 2 and 27, called by President Javier Milei.

The aim is to move forward with a new juvenile criminal regime to replace Law 22.278, which has been in force since 1980 and the military junta’s time in office. The Executive considers it outdated in light of constitutional standards and international human rights treaties. It wants to reduce crime among minors and 

Currently, the age of criminal responsibility in Argentina is 16. The government’s bill proposes lowering it to 13, bringing adolescents under a special criminal regime. 

The Milei administration argues that the current system “creates situations of impunity” and that domestic legislation has fallen out of step with the rest of the region, where several countries have set lower ages of juvenile criminal responsibility.

The bill’s explanatory memorandum cites neighbouring countries such as Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia and Peru, which have lower ages than Argentina. From Casa Rosada, officials argue that the reform is aimed at reducing juvenile crime and providing an institutional response to serious offences committed by minors.

What would change

The new regime would apply to adolescents aged between 13 and 18. The bill states that its purpose is to “promote the adolescent’s legal responsibility for their actions,” while also prioritising education, resocialisation and social integration. 

Along these lines, it incorporates principles such as due process, the right to defence, the presumption of innocence, proportionality of sentences, age-differentiated treatment and a judicial interpretation that is protective given the age of those involved.

The bill explicitly prohibits adolescents from being detained together with adults and establishes that any deprivation of liberty must take place in specialised institutions or in separate facilities within the prison system, staffed by trained personnel and operating under an educational and formative approach.

It also bans life imprisonment for adolescents and sets a maximum limit of 20 years’ deprivation of liberty. In addition, it allows for the partial substitution of sentences once two-thirds of the term have been served, through alternative compliance schemes, always under judicial supervision and technical evaluation.

– TIMES/PERFIL