Juvenile crime in Belarus has fallen by nearly 40% over the past few years
Juvenile crime in Belarus has fallen by nearly 40% over the past few years
05.10.2026
Article published on the belta.by website
The Prosecutor General’s Office has reviewed compliance with the law on the prevention of child neglect and juvenile delinquency, according to a press statement that BELTA has seen.
The Office stated that juvenile crime has been falling in the country for several years: from 1,749 cases in 2019 to 1,060 last year, with offences decreasing by 39.3% over this time period.
“Prosecutors focused on the increasing number of minors who committed socially dangerous acts where charges could not be brought as they had not yet reached the age of criminal responsibility”, said the Office.
The main factors for this rising trend were: failure of parents, or those acting in their stead, to be responsible for their child’s upbringing, and a lack of supervision by legal guardians over how children spend their time.
Prosecutors explained that in the Gomel region, one in ten children who were committing crimes was being raised in a dysfunctional environment, with the figure one in seven and one in five in Grodno/Minsk and the Vitebsk region respectively.
“Furthermore, there have been instances where law enforcement officers failed to inform the education authorities of the conditions in which these children are living. As a result, social investigations were not always carried out in a timely manner, which prevented the relevant agencies from carrying out early mitigation measures to address signs of family dysfunction”, said the Office.
It is worth noting that theft of bicycles and scooters accounts for the highest proportion of public order offences (around 40%) in the country, including those taken near or from the entrances to residential buildings and education establishments.
These crimes are typically committed by children between eight and ten years of age, who aren’t aware they are doing anything illegal. “For example, in Minsk’s Frunzensky District, over the first six months of this year, 67% of offences committed by minors who couldn’t be prosecuted because of their age involved theft of property, of which 45% involved stealing bikes and scooters”, the Office said. There are numerous cases where the owners themselves failed to take sufficient measures to safeguard their property, which also contributed to these thefts.
The Prosecutor General’s investigation emphasised the need for the authorities to organise effective public information campaigns, focusing on raising the awareness of a guardian’s legal duties. This will help adults to have a better understanding of their responsibilities for their children’s unlawful behaviour, as well as looking after their property.
Following the results of the review, the Deputy Prosecutor General submitted a report to the Ministry of the Interior, in which he demanded that proven breaches of the law be resolved, along with the underlying causes and circumstances that contributed to them.
