Deputies: The ruling party is speeding up the approval of a law to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 14.

The ruling party and the PRO party are pushing for the bill that proposes lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 14 for minors who commit serious crimes. This Tuesday, they will seek to sign the ruling in the Criminal Law, Justice, Family, and Budget committees, with the goal of addressing it in the Chamber of Deputies as soon as possible.

The proposal is supported by the blocs of La Libertad Avanza (LLA), the PRO (Progressive Party of the People's Party), the UCR (Civic Coalition), the Federal Innovation Party, and a sector of the Renewal Front led by Sergio Massa. Although the government initially advocated setting the age at 13, negotiations are pointing to a consensus on 14, as proposed by Massa's deputy, Ramiro Gutiérrez.

The bill establishes that life sentences cannot be imposed on minors, and the maximum prison sentence will be 20 years, even in cases of actual multiple offenses. It also includes measures for resocialization and rehabilitation, such as educational programs, citizenship training, sports activities, and medical treatment when necessary. It also proposes the position of a supervisor to accompany the young offender in their reintegration process and contemplates alternatives to serving sentences, such as house arrest, open institutes, or specialized juvenile detention centers, in addition to prison. The possibility of reviewing the sentence after serving two-thirds of the sentence, with the remainder of the sentence to be continued under house arrest, is also contemplated.

The bill was submitted to Congress in June 2024 and has already been discussed in several forums, including seven meetings last year and two in March of this year. The president of the Criminal Law Commission, Laura Rodríguez Machado, called for a new meeting to achieve the broadest possible consensus.

During a briefing on April 15, Chief of Staff Guillermo Francos emphasized the need to approve this initiative. "Anyone who commits an adult crime must pay an adult sentence," Francos emphasized, defending the government's proposal. With the expected ruling this Tuesday, the ruling party seeks to consolidate the necessary support to bring the bill to the floor and mark a significant change in the criminal treatment of minors.

In fact, they believe this potential law would be the first step toward reforming the Penal Code, which the government has already indicated they would like to amend. Achieving partial approval of this initiative before the elections would be a boost for LLA, which is seeking to boost its campaign with this parliamentary strategy.