Criminal Responsibility of the Child: Between Non-existence and Mitigation in Algerian Legislation

Abstract

The Algerian legislature, through the recent 2014 amendment to the penal code, adopted a new approach to the criminal treatment of children, distinct from the previous system. This approach was further strengthened by the 2015 Law on Child Protection, a significant and noteworthy development concerning both child protection and criminal responsibility. This law specifies the minimum age for holding a child criminally responsible for acts committed in violation of the law. While a child is defined as any person under the age of eighteen, the criminal treatment of that child, and the question of their criminal responsibility, varies according to their age.