Punishment for blackmail and theft to be imposed from age of 14

The age from which the offenders will be criminally held accountable for blackmail and theft will be 14. Such a provision to the Penal Code was approved by the Government on Wednesday, Info-Prim Neo reports. The bill was submitted by MP Igor Vremea, who considers that the social dangers posed by such crimes are rather serious and the culprits should be criminally liable at an early age. The lawmaker said some of the articles of the Penal Code do not make direct reference to these types of offense and it can be thus concluded that the minimum age for holding offenders accountable is 16. The amendments approved by the Government also remove a number of inconsistencies.