Despite a stable proportion of juvenile crime, the number of underage offenders in Luxembourg has nearly doubled from 2019 to 2023, with significant increases in violent theft and offences against persons, according to Ministers Elisabeth Margue and Léon Gloden.
Between 2019 and 2023, an average 13% of offences in the Grand Duchy were committed by minors, explain Ministers Elisabeth Margue and Léon Gloden in response to a recent parliamentary question from MP André Bauler of the Democratic Party (DP).
The categories in question are burglaries, thefts, and vandalism, with an upward trend being particularly noticeable in the case of violent theft. However, the proportion of minors in the total number of offences has not changed in this period.
Nevertheless, the number of underage offenders almost doubled from 947 in 2019 to 1,734 in 2023. In the case of offences against persons, which includes insolence and threats, the number of underage offenders has even tripled.
There has been a progression of over 70% in the number of penalties in the juvenile divisions of the courts in the last five years, to reach around 4,500 penalties in 2023. Nonetheless, we cannot yet speak of a youth gang phenomenon in Luxembourg, the ministers concluded in their response.
