Criminal Code > BOOK II THE CRIMINAL 4

CHAPTER IV MEASURES AND PENALTIES APPLICABLE TO YOUNG PRSONS

Section I- Period Between Ages of Nine and Fifteen

Sub-section I- Ordinary Measures.

Article 157- Principle.

In all cases where a crime provided by the criminal law or the Law of petty Offences has been committed by a young person between the ages of nine and fifteen years (Art. 53), the Court shall order one of the following measures having regard to the general provisions defining the special purpose to be achieved (Art. 55) and after having ordered all necessary inquiries for its information and guidance (Art. 54).

Article 158- Admission to a Curative Institution.

If the condition of the young criminal requires treatment and where he is feeble minded, abnormally arrested in his development, suffering from a mental disease, epileptic or addicted to drink, abuse of narcotic and psychotropic substances or other plants with similar effect the Court shall order his admission to a suitable institution where he shall receive the medical care required by his condition.

His treatment shall where possible include education and instruction.

Article 159- Supervised Education.

(1) If the young criminal is morally abandoned or is in need of care and protection or is exposed to the danger of corruption or is corrupted, measures for his education under supervision shall be ordered.

He shall be entrusted either to relatives or if he has no relatives or if these have proved to be incapable of ensuring his education, to a person (guardian or protector), a reliable person, or organization for the education and protection of children.

The supervisors mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall undertake in writing before the Court that they will, under their responsibility, see to the good behaviour of the young criminal entrusted to them.

The local supervisory authorities (Art. 208) shall be responsible for the control of the measure.

(2) Specific conditions such as regular attendance at a school or the obligation to undergo an apprenticeship for a trade, the prohibition to associate with certain persons or resort to certain places, the obligation to appear personally before, or to report on certain dates to the supervisory authority may b imposed.

Such conditions may, according to their nature and purpose, be ordered either in respect to the young person or to the persons who vouch for his good conduct.

(3) A recall or a formal admonition may, if necessary, be sent to such persons by the supervisory authority or the Court.

The custody and education of an infant may at all time be withdrawn from the person or organization entrusted therewith if they prove to be incapable of discharging their trust in a proper manner.

Article 160- Reprimand; Censure.

(1) When such a course seems appropriate and designed to produce good results the Court may reprimand the young criminal.

It shall direct his attention to the consequences of his act and appeal to his sense of duty and his determination to be of good behaviour in the future.

(2) This measure may be applied alone when the Court deems it sufficient for the reform of the young criminal, having regard to his capacity of understanding and the not serious nature of the crime or the circumstances of its commission.

If expedient, it may be coupled with any other penalty or measure.

Article 161- School or Home Arrest.

In cases of small gravity or when the young criminal seems likely to reform, the Court may order that he be kept at school or in his home during his free hours or holidays and perform a specific task adapted to his age and his circumstances.

The Court shall determine the duration of the restraint in a manner appropriate to the circumstances of the case and the degree of gravity of the crime committed.

It shall order the necessary steps for ensuring strict enforcement under supervision.

Article 162- Admission to a Corrective Institution.

The Court may order his admission into a special institution for the correction and rehabilitation of young criminals, taking into account the bad character, antecedents or disposition of the young criminal as well as the gravity of the crime and the circumstances under which it was committed.

The Young criminal shall there receive, under appropriate discipline, the general, moral and vocational education (apprenticeship) needed to adapt him to social life and the exercise of an honest activity.

Article 163- Duration of the Measures.

(1) Measures for treatment (Art. 158) and supervised education (Art. 159) shall, as a general rule, be applied for such time as is deemed necessary by the medical or supervisory authority and may continue in force until the young criminal has come of age (eighteen years).

They shall cease to be applied when, in the opinion of the responsible authority, they have achieved their purpose.

(2) The sending to a corrective institution (Art. 162) shall, as a general rule, be ordered for a period of not less than one year not exceeding five years, in on case shall it extend beyond the coming of age of the young criminal.

The judgment shall fix the duration in each case.

Conditional release by way of probation after detention for one year may be ordered under such general conditions as are provided by law (Art. 205) and subject to the application of rules of conduct and submission of the released criminal to the control of a protector (Art. 208) during the fixed probation period.

Article 164- Variation of the Measures.

On the recommendation of the management of the institution the Court may vary an order made under the preceding Articles when such variation will benefit the young criminal.

Article 165- Legal Effect of the Measures.

A young person in regard to whom one of the aforesaid curative, educational or corrective measures has been ordered shall not be regarded as having been sentenced under criminal law.

Sub-section II – Penalties

Article 166- Principle.

Where measures under Articles 158-162 have been applied and have failed the Court may sentence a young criminal to one of the following penalties, after having ordered such inquiries to be made as may seem necessary (Art. 54).

Article 167- Fine.

(1) In cases where the young criminal is capable of paying a fine and of realizing the reason for its imposition, the Court may sentence him to a fine, which shall be proportionate to his means and the gravity of the crime.

A fine may be imposed in addition to any other penalty.

(2) The provisions regarding the substitution of other penalties for fine and the consequences of non-payment (Art. 94-95) are not applicable to young criminals.

Should a young criminal deliberately fail to pay the fine within a reasonable time fixed by the judgment the fine may be converted into school or home arrest (Art. 161) for such time as shall be fixed by the Court.

Article 168- Imprisonment.

(1) When a young criminal has committed a serious crime which is normally punishable with a term of rigorous imprisonment of ten years or more or with death the Court may order him to be sent:

(a) either to a corrective institution (Art. 162) where special measure for safety, segregation or discipline can be applied to him in the general interest; or

(b) to a penitentiary detention institution if he is incorrigible and is likely to be a cause of trouble, insecurity or corruption to others. The principle of segregation shall be applied in this case (Art. 110(2)).

(2) The Court shall determine the period of detention to be undergone according to the gravity of the act committed and having regard to the age of the criminal at the time of the crime, It shall not be for less than one year and may extend to a period of ten years.

When the criminal was sent to a corrective institution he shall be transferred to a detention institution if his conduct or the danger he constitutes renders such a measure necessary, or when he has attained the age of eighteen years and the sentence passed on him is for a term extending beyond his majority.

In such a case the Court shall take into account, in determining the duration of the detention to be undergone, the time spent in the corrective institution and the results thereby obtained.

(3) Detention shall take place under the regime of simple imprisonment (Art.106) and conditional release may be granted under the usual conditions provided by law (Art. 113) if the young criminal appears to have reformed.

Sub-section III- Common Provisions

Article 169- Petty Cases; Waiving of Penalty for Definite Reasons.

In case of a less serious crime, when six months at least have elapsed since the crime was committed the Court may order no measure or penalty if it appears to be no longer necessary or expedient.

Such shall be the case in particular when educational or corrective measures or suitable punishment has already been imposed by the parental or family authority, or when the young criminal is of good behaviour and seems to be reformed and no longer to be exposed to a risk of relapse.

Article 170- Special Period of Limitation.

(1) When half the ordinary or the special period of limitation (Arts. 217, 218) has expired since the day on which the crime was committed, the Court may, if circumstances seem to justify such a decision, renounce imposing any measure or penalty except in the cases of serious crimes mentioned in Article 168.

(2) In the case of serious crimes mentioned under Article 168, the general rules governing the limitation of the prosecution and the sentence shall apply.

Article 171- Suspended Sentence and Period of Probation.

The general rules regarding the suspension of the sentence or of its enforcement with submission for a specific time to a period of probation under supervision (Arts. 190-200) shall, as a general rule, remain applicable to young criminals if the conditions for the success of such a measure seem to exist and subject to the rules concerning serious crimes as defined in Article 168.

The duration of the period of probation shall be fixed between one and three years.

Article 172- Effect of Measures and Penalties upon Civil Rights.

The measures and penalties imposed upon a young criminal shall not result in the loss of his civil rights for the future, save in exceptional cases where the Court regards it as absolutely necessary on account of the special gravity of the crime committed within the meaning of Article 168.

Article 173- Preventive and Protective Measures of a General Nature.

The provisions concerning forfeiture to the State (Art. 100), the seizure of dangerous articles (Art. 140) as well as the prohibition from resorting the certain places (Art. 145) shall be applicable to young criminals.

The Court may in addition order the expulsion (Art. 150) of an alien under age who proves to be unamenable to reform and dangerous for the community, at the end of the period of corrective detention.

Due notice shall be given to the appropriate public authorities, guardians or institutions (Art. 154) of all measures taken and penalties imposed upon young criminals.

Article 174- Publication of Judgment and Entry in Judgment Register.

The publication of the judgment in respect to young criminals shall never be effected through the mass media (Art. 155).

The entry in the judgment register (Art. 156) of the measures and penalties affecting them shall be made merely for the information of the official, administrative or judicial authorities concerned. In no case shall excerpts from their record be communicated to third parties.

Article 175- Cancellation of Entry and Reinstatement.

On the application of the young criminal or of those having authority over him the competent authority may order the cancellation of an entry in his personal judgment register of measures or penalties applied to him, except imprisonment, within two years from their enforcement if the normal conditions for reinstatement (Arts. 232-237) are fulfilled.

Section II- Period Between Ages of Fifteen and Eighteen

Article 176- Normal Case.

In the case of a crime committed by a young person belonging to the intermediary age group extending from the end of criminal minority (15 years) to legal majority (18 years), the Court applying the ordinary provisions of the law (Art. 56) may reduce the penalty within the limits it specifies (Art. 179), if the circumstances of the case seem to justify such a reduction.

In no case may death sentence be passed upon a criminal who had not attained his eighteenth year of age at the time of commission of the crime (Art. 117).

In the carrying out of penalties entailing loss of liberty the rule of segregation until majority (Art. 110(2)) shall be strictly observed.

Article 177- Special Case.

(1) Where a young criminal’s physical or metnal development is considered to be that of a young person below the age of fifteen or did not commit a serious crime and, according to expert opinion, still seems amenable to curative, educational or corrective measures provided in Section I of this Chapter in respect to young criminals, the Court may by stating its reasons therefore, instead of mitigating the ordinary penalty in accordance with the preceding provision, order one of the aforesaid measures or penalties, in particular his dispatch to a curative or corrective institution.

(2) The curative, educational or corrective measure may under no circumstances be extended beyond legal majority (Art. 163).

The Court may, before the end of the period, review its order with a view to deciding what length of the period spent in a corrective institution is to be considered as part of the penalty where it deems it necessary, in particular where it is appropriate to order detention in a penitentiary establishment (Art. 168 (2)) upon release from the corrective institution.