By and large: teenagers want to be tried for crimes as adults
Teenagers who repeatedly commit crimes against human life and health must be forcibly emancipated. If a 16-year-old cannot be reformed, he must be responsible for his actions as an adult, said Sergey Rybalchenko, chairman of the Public Chamber's commission on Demography, protection of family, children and traditional family values. The idea of using the emancipation mechanism in "punitive" measures has not yet found mass support, but there are those who see chances for its implementation. Read more about the initiative in the Izvestia article.
What is criminal law emancipation: the essence of the proposal
Sergey Rybalchenko recalled the situation when young men aged 16 and 17 beat up a 62-year-old passerby in the Lipetsk region. They were recently sentenced to two years of probation. The head of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation commission is confident that such actions should be more severely punished.
"I think it is advisable to consider the issue of forced emancipation after committing certain crimes. In particular, related to attacks on human life and health. When teenagers are virtually incapable of re—education, they should no longer be responsible as children, but as adults," he said.
According to Rybalchenko, if it is not possible to influence a teenager, it is necessary to consider the option of recognizing him as fully capable and extending all the requirements of the law to him. Including responsibility as an adult.
Sergey Rybalchenko told Izvestia that he suggests using this mechanism only for repeated crimes involving violence, bullying, bullying and cyberbullying, when aggression and brutality are carried out for their public demonstration on the Internet and simply forwarding among peers.
— Often the punishment for such crimes is minimal or non-existent, and teenagers abuse it. Should the punishment be increased and made for adults if the teenager committed the violation for the first time? I don't think so. But if it becomes a system, it means that the usual measures do not work and other mechanisms of responsibility must be activated," he said.
According to the social activist, emancipation in this case is applied not before punishment, but after — as a preventive measure. The teenager should understand that the next time the punishment will be serious. The mechanism of forced emancipation is proposed to be introduced from the age of 16.
It should be noted that in January–October 2025, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, 18,118 minors who committed crimes were identified. This is 4.9% more than last year. In total, almost 24,000 crimes were committed by minors or with their complicity in 10 months (+12.1% compared to last year), and almost half of them were particularly serious.
What is emancipation?
Olga Turunina, a member of the Russian Bar Association and lawyer at Leges Bureau Law Firm, explained to Izvestia that in Russian law, emancipation means a civil law institution, which is enshrined in Article 27 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
— By its legal nature, emancipation is a legal mechanism for granting a person under the age of 18 the opportunity to acquire all the civil rights and duties of an adult subject to the conditions specified in the law. That is, to become fully capable," she said. — But emancipation has nothing to do with the age of criminal responsibility and does not affect it.
Emancipation is now a human right, not an obligation. And usually this legal mechanism is used when a minor, for example, has already opened his own business or is constantly receiving a salary — so as not to conduct all financial transactions through his parents. The actual emancipation of 16-17-year-olds also occurs upon marriage.
However, restrictions remain: for example, an emancipated teenager cannot vote in elections anyway. As well as being legally responsible as an adult.
Evgeny Korchago, Vice President of the Guild of Russian Lawyers, stressed that Sergey Rybalchenko's initiative refers to forced emancipation in the criminal law sense, not in the civil law sense.
— Now even an emancipated teenager will be prosecuted as an ordinary teenager. All the exemptions will apply to him,— Evgeny Korchago explained to Izvestia. — That's why they talk about criminal law forced emancipation, when a person who has committed a crime for the second and third time is involved according to the general adult rules.
Is it possible to make emancipation compulsory
Lawyer, senior associate at the Monastyrsky, Zyuba, Stepanov and Partners Bar Association, Victoria Chesnokova, disagrees with the proposal. She explains the main principle: by its very nature, the mechanism of emancipation is not a method of punishment.
— Emancipation does not automatically endow a teenager with the consciousness and thinking characteristic of an adult and a mature person. In my opinion, systemic rehabilitation mechanisms and high—quality therapy provided to minors and their family members will be much more effective," the lawyer told Izvestia.
Olga Turunina agrees, adding that in the case of forced emancipation, the teenager "will simply lose part of the legal protection."
Evgeny Korchago stressed that forced emancipation is just one of the formulations used by Sergey Rybalchenko. But in fact, the problem can be solved by prescribing in the Criminal Code that in the case of repeated crimes by minors, they are not subject to "age" guarantees. He noted that the recent decision to criminalize sabotage from the age of 14 could be used as a precedent.
Sergey Rybalchenko emphasizes that he is not calling for stricter legislation.
— On the contrary, after every high-profile case of aggression and violence by minors, we hear calls to tighten the law and lower the age at which criminal liability occurs. I usually oppose such a tightening on occasion. But changes are happening. Currently, the penalties for a number of crimes are the same for minors as for adults, but they come from the first offense, although it is logical to give the young man a chance to correct himself. However, with repeated atrocities, especially in cases where the loyalty of the law is used to commit a crime, it is important to ask more strictly, in an adult way," he explained his idea.
Sergey Rybalchenko added that in most cases minors embark on the path of correction and prevention works, but there are also those who "flaunt impunity." He believes that forced emancipation will not become a widespread practice, but in some cases it will allow us to show integrity where it needs to be shown in the interests of society.
How teenagers are already being punished
Victoria Chesnokova notes that the current system of criminal responsibility of minors is now difficult to call sparing.
— As a general rule, criminal liability begins at the age of 16. However, the law also provides for an extensive list of crimes for which responsibility begins at the age of 14. These are, for example, murder, intentional infliction of serious harm to health, kidnapping, rape, terrorist act, hostage—taking, vandalism, theft or extortion of weapons, ammunition, explosives and explosive devices, and others," she noted.
Moreover, for serious crimes, a minor can be sentenced, including to imprisonment for certain terms.
Victoria Chesnokova notes that the rehabilitation model is typical for most European countries, which is characterized by an increased age limit from which criminal responsibility begins, the use of therapeutic and adaptive methods, social work and assistance to adolescent families. In some countries — France, Spain, Germany — there are specialized juvenile courts.
At the same time, a "repressive model" is being applied in the USA, Great Britain, China and Singapore.
"There is no single law on the age of criminal responsibility in the United States: each state sets its own rules," Olga Turunina explained. — Formally, in most states, the lower limit is from 10 to 12 years, in some states, courts may consider a child criminally responsible based on his "ability to understand the nature of the act."
Criminal liability depends very much on the court's decision. Depending on the nature of the crime, even life imprisonment may be applied to a minor, the lawyer clarifies.
Are there any other ways to solve the problem?
Olga Turunina is sure that the solution should lie not in legislative tightening, but in systematic improvement of work with such teenagers.
Evgeny Korchago emphasizes that at the same time as forced emancipation, it is necessary to follow the path of reducing the terms of imprisonment for certain crimes. He explains this by saying that if a person has been in prison for more than eight years, he turns into a "prison person" with completely changed psychological attitudes. Shorter terms still allow him to be re-educated, whereas long ones imply isolation from society.
At the same time, it is very important that the punishment be irreversible, he said.
In order for the initiative with the forced emancipation of teenagers to become real, Evgeny Korchago calls for a discussion with the professional community on the basis of the Public Chamber, the State Duma and the Federation Council. He admits that the very phrase "forced emancipation" causes rejection, but it is important to understand the purpose of the proposed changes.
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