By Penelope Galliou

The escalating increase in cases of violence and crime among minors, which tend to become the order of the day in the schools and neighborhoods of the country, are ringing the alarm bells in the government – as in the whole of society which is anxiously watching everything – prompting the Maximos Palace to immediately take and drastic measures to suppress them.

Determined to act effectively, the government is moving forward with a package of measures and legislative initiatives, in order to deal with and put a brake on the rise of the phenomenon, which will be presented today to the Cabinet meeting in the morning (11.00 am) by the Minister of Justice , Giorgos Floridis and the Minister of Citizen Protection, Michalis Chrysochoidis.

According to information,measures are expected to be developed in two pillars: those concerning the parents of minors but also those concerning the children themselves who commit criminal acts.

In particular, it is considered a given toughening of penalties on the criminal responsibility of the parents of children who are involved as abusers in incidents of violence, for neglecting the supervision of a minor.

Stricter penalties

The government is reportedly looking to tighten and increase the penalties currently in place, such as commutable imprisonment of up to 1 year, while the possibility of parallel imposition and stiffer fines for specific offenses is being considered.

With regard to minor perpetrators of such acts, according to information, the reduction of the age limit of criminal responsibility from 15 years to 14 is being considered, while measures of a reformative nature are also being studied for children of a younger age, 12-15 years, for which currently only reprimands and parental supervision status.

Also under discussion seems to be the possibility of expanding the offenses that can lead teenagers aged 16-18 to prison or temporary detention. Measure for which there are relevant recommendations and it is being considered.

The mark of their intentions has already been given by the co-competent Ministers, with Michalis Chrysochoidis stating that “when someone neglects the care of a child in a demonstrably extreme manner, I think there should be consequences”. On the same wavelength and the intentions of the Minister of Justice who emphasized that “there is a criminal treatment for parents who neglect custody of their children, which is not proportional to the unpleasant result that occurs. And there we will intervene” noted Giorgos Floridis, underlining the need to close “cracks” in the penal system for the delinquency of minors.

At the same time, for the protection of victims of juvenile delinquencyin the coming days it is expected to be implemented by the Ministry of Citizen Protection “saveYOUTH”the corresponding panic button, used by abused women, should also be used to protect minors.

In the pilot phase, “saveYOUTH” will be addressed in children 12 to 18 years old divided into three categories, 12 to 15, 15 to 18 and 18 years old, who will install the application on their mobile phone and if they are in danger, they will be able to request the intervention of the police, who will locate them through geo-location systems. The app will also be available to parents, coaches, teachers and others who come into daily contact with minors.

The Ministry of Citizen Protection is expected to make further use of new technologies to strengthen the information network of the Hellenic Police, so that social media can be monitored under specific data for preparatory discussions of criminal behavior, so that their intervention and the prevention of phenomena become faster violence.

At the same time, support is also expected for the services of the Hellenic Police Agency responsible for the protection of minors, they are expected to be further strengthened as it is planned, among other things, to soon add a Department for Information Management and Innovative Actions to the Sub-Directorate for the Protection of Minors, as well as the creation of the Department of Social Policing for incidents of violence against minors.

On the front of dealing with juvenile delinquency, other interventions by competent agencies will help, with the aim of preventing the phenomenon, before it continues to manifest itself in specific incidents of violence and ends up being dealt with criminally. In this context, the Minister of Family and Social Cohesion, Sofia Zaharakis, described that in addition to the tightening of punishments either for the parents or for the minor perpetrators, it is also being considered to strengthen social support by increasing the number of psychologists and social workers in schools , while the Ministry will promote parent counseling at the level of Municipalities.

The recruitment of 2025

Public recruitment for 2025 is also scheduled on the agenda of the Council of Ministers, for which a relevant proposal will be made by the competent Minister of the Interior, Theodoros Livanios. The recruitments, which will be a little over 19,000, have been planned on the basis of the “1 to 1” rule and the distribution will be based on the needs, problems and possibilities that exist.

According to information, the “lion’s share” will be the ESY, where the recruitments to be announced are expected to be 4,000.

Reinforcement is also expected in the National Defense with 2,000 EPOP recruitments, while there is also a provision for the increase of forest commandos.

The Labor Inspectorate is also expected to be strengthened with approximately 60 people and the AADE with 550.

It is recalled that already in the summer 10,000 teacher recruitments were announced by the Ministry of Education.

In detail, the topics of the meeting of the Council of Ministers are:

  • Presentation by the Minister of National Economy and Finance Kostis Hatzidakis and Deputy Minister Thanos Petralias of the Medium-term Fiscal-Structural Plan,
  • Presentation by the Minister of Social Cohesion and Family, Sofia Zacharakis, of the National Demographic Action Plan,
  • Presentation by the Minister of National Economy and Finance Kostis Hatzidakis and the Deputy Minister Christos Dimas of the tax regulations to increase disposable income,
  • Presentation by the Minister of National Economy and Finance Kostis Hatzidakis, the Minister of Rural Development and Food Kostas Tsiaras and the Minister of State Makis Voridis of the legislative initiatives for agricultural loans,
  • Presentation by the Minister of Citizen Protection Michalis Chrysochoidis and the Minister of Justice Giorgos Floridis of the legislative initiatives to deal with cases of crime,
  • Presentation by the Minister of Health Adonis Georgiadis and the Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni of their Ministries’ funding bills,
  • Presentation by the Minister of State Akis Skertsos on the draft action plans of the Ministries for 2025,
  • Presentation by the Minister of the Interior Thodoris Livaniou and Deputy Minister Vivi Charalambogiannis for the annual recruitment planning 2025.