In 2023, 29 offenses committed by minors in the canton of Vaud required an indictment, compared to 16 in 2022. This increase of 81.3% concerns the Vaud Public Prosecutor’s Office which reports a “toughening of crime ” of young people at the time of its annual review, Monday in front of the media gathered in Lausanne.
“Certainly, the absolute figure is not extraordinary, but it is serious youth crime,” declared the attorney general of the canton of Vaud, Eric Kaltenrieder. “These young people will be sentenced and their care is not easy.” If this proves inadequate, these young people will be “tomorrow’s clients” of the Public Prosecutor’s Office for adults, he stressed.
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Another “explosion” recorded in 2023, that of theft and robbery which jumped by 30% and caused the opening of 2,338 files. “This increase has significant consequences on prison overcrowding since, depending on the case, these offenses will give rise to pre-trial detention,” commented Mr. Kaltenrieder. As this type of delinquency is often mobile, the increase also impacts the forum determination cell, which determines where the case must be investigated.
More than 20,000 new files
In total, the number of new cases opened in 2023 by the Vaud justice system amounts to 20,528, an increase of 3.5% compared to 2022. Among the increasing offenses, those against sexual integrity led to the opening of 190 files (+13.1%), economic offenses with the opening of 1398 files (+7.4%) while offenses related to road traffic are responsible for the opening of 4025 files ( +5.6%).
Other types of offenses led to fewer cases being opened than in 2022. This is the case for offenses related to pornography (76 cases, -21.6%), sexual acts with children (123 cases, -19.6%) and in connection with narcotics (530 cases, -6.2%).
Note that the figures from the Public Prosecutor’s Office do not always coincide with those of the crime report presented by the police. Indeed, when a file is opened, the Public Prosecutor’s Office only counts the most serious offense, while the police counts each offense. Thus, a burglary will be equivalent to three offenses in police statistics and only one in those of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Specific skills centers
No less than 22,832 cases were closed in 2023. Of these, 12,120 gave rise to criminal orders, 2,493 to orders not to enter into proceedings, 2,380 to dismissal orders and 1,623 to acts of accusation. Some 83% of investigations were completed in less than 12 months.
At the institutional level, the Public Prosecutor’s Office has seen its autonomy strengthened from 2023 with the creation of the college of prosecutors. It also created three specific skills centers in the fight against domestic violence, economic crime and cybercrime.
The Vaud Public Prosecutor’s Office employs 236 people, including 60 prosecutors, 55% of whom are women. It is made up of the central public prosecutor’s office in Lausanne and four district public ministries, namely Lausanne, Est vaudois (Vevey), La Côte (Morges) and Nord vaudois (Yverdon).
ats/miro
