In Brief

  • Authorities receive expanded powers to use coercive measures against children under 15.
  • New tools allow for seizure, house searches, and body searches in a wider range of cases.
  • Enhanced capabilities for collecting biometric data from minors are now authorized.

Law enforcement agencies are gaining significantly broader authority to utilize coercive measures when investigating crimes suspected to be committed by children under the age of 15. This legislative decision provides police and prosecutors with more effective tools to secure evidence and identify individuals at crime scenes, aiming to address the rise in youth-related criminal activity.

Expanded Investigative Tools

The new legislation introduces a series of procedural changes designed to close gaps in current investigative practices. By allowing for more frequent use of coercive measures, the state aims to ensure that investigations involving minors are as thorough as those involving adults. This includes the ability to conduct house searches and body searches in more situations than previously permitted, as well as an increased mandate to collect biometric data from children under 15.

Managing Crime Scenes and Reopened Cases

Beyond measures targeting specific individuals, the decision introduces a new power for law enforcement to detain groups of people at a crime scene for the purpose of identification. Furthermore, the legislation establishes specific regulations for the use of coercive measures in preliminary investigations that have been reopened to determine if there are grounds for a review of a previous decision. These changes are set to take effect on July 1, 2026.

Who is affected?

Individuals and Businesses

  • Children under the age of 15 may be subject to more intrusive investigative measures, including body searches and biometric data collection, during criminal investigations.
  • Law enforcement agencies gain clearer legal frameworks and expanded authority to conduct investigations involving minors.
  • The public may experience increased police presence and temporary detention at crime scenes for identification purposes.

This article is an AI-generated summary created for your convenience to provide a quick overview. For the complete and official legal text, please refer to the original document.