The governor of Mendoza, Alfredo Cornejo, expressed this Wednesday his support for the national debate on lowering the age of criminal responsibility and for the possible passage of a new law, although he emphasized the concrete consequences that it will have for the provinces, both in terms of security and budgetary resources.
"I don't want expectations to be created that by the mere change of the law we're going to solve problems that are endemic," the governor warned while speaking with the press. In that regard, he maintained that juvenile delinquency responds to complex dynamics that are not corrected solely with a regulatory modification.
Juvenile delinquency and use of non-imputability
Cornejo pointed out that there is a small but persistent group of minors who enter criminal circuits at a very early age and who currently can't be held criminally responsible. As he explained, criminal organizations take advantage of that situation.
"It's a certain group of people who fall into juvenile delinquency at a very young age and who really are not imputable. Criminal organizations even take advantage of that non-imputability to assign crimes to them", the governor stated.
From the Mendoza Executive Branch, officials clarified that the province supports the initiative, a position that had already been expressed by the Minister of Security, Mercedes Rus, although without a definitive decision on the exact age from which criminal responsibility should apply.
No definition on the age and with a technical perspective
When asked whether the age should be set at 13 or 14 years, Cornejo avoided taking a definitive position. "We don't have a very well-formed opinion. Those who are specifically dedicated to that know it better," he pointed out, leaving the technical and legislative discussion open.
