Russia's Investigative Chief Laments Rejection of Proposal to Lower Criminal Age to 12
Alexander Bastrykin, head of Russia's Investigative Committee, said his proposal to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 12 was rejected. He also highlighted an increase in school attacks.
Alexander Bastrykin, the head of Russia's Investigative Committee, revealed at the St. Petersburg Legal Forum on June 26 that his agency had proposed lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 12, but the proposal was not accepted.
Bastrykin argued that teenagers today mature much faster and commit crimes at the age of 12 or 13, yet escape punishment. He also noted that there were six attacks on schools in Russia in 2025, and eight such incidents have already been recorded since the start of 2026.
Over the past year, there have been repeated calls in Russia to lower the age of criminal responsibility. In December 2025, Leonid Slutsky, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, proposed lowering the age to 12 for sexual offenses against minors and murder. In January 2026, Alexey Zinchuk, a lawmaker in Saint Petersburg's legislative assembly from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, proposed making children as young as 13 criminally liable for offenses including murder, kidnapping, rape, theft, and terrorism.
In 2025, Bastrykin had already proposed lowering the age of criminal liability for drug trafficking offenses from 16 to 14.
