judicial

Minors, gang members face tougher penalties

A youth convicted of murder last year received an 11-year sentence, double the previous maximum penalty.

Prosecutors of crimes committed by minors achieved 302 convictions and 95 acquittals in all of 2008.

la prensa

longer stays:Public prosecutors claim juvenile detention centers release inmates early despite recent reforms lengthening the sentences of minors convicted of murder and other serious offenses.1144574

Minors accused of murder or committing crimes within a gang are already facing longer jail sentences due to the reforms to a 1999 law that went into effect last year, reported adolescent crime prosecutor Abril Arosemena yesterday in a year-end summary of cases heard in Panama, Colón and San Miguelito courts.

Arosemena explained that the country’s first case of a minor receiving 11 years for a homicide conviction occurred in September of last year. Previously, criminal law limited the maximum sentence to five years. According to the report, public prosecutors specializing in adolescent crime achieved 302 convictions and 95 acquittals throughout all of last year.

Some 106 murder cases involving minors were brought to trial last year, two less than the number heard in 2007.

Despite the slight decrease in murders committed by minors, the report showed that the incidence of youth convicted of serious crimes rose, especially the number of armed robbery cases, which totaled 1,434 over the course of 12 months. Police records indicated that the provinces of Colón and Panama also encountered 18 cases to be prosecuted as “gang” crimes involving minors, a new classification introduced by the reforms.

After presenting her findings, the public prosecutor Arosemena acknowledged that there are still serious deficiencies at the juvenile detention centers throughout the country, and admitted that many of the facilities release the adolescents before the complete sentence is served, ignoring the changes to the law.

Arosemena conceded that the detention centers were created with the intention of accommodating the offenders with shorter sentences and commented that perhaps other facilities were needed to deal with minors serving longer periods.

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