STOCKHOLM, June 11 (Reuters) - Sweden's government said on Thursday it had dropped plans to lock up violent offenders as young as 13 in special prison units as there was not enough support for the measure in parliament — a major reversal on a key policy ahead of elections.
The centre-right administration will now draw up legislation to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 14, from the current 15, Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer said, as part of a crackdown on young people caught up in gang violence.
Sweden has seen a surge in gang-related shootings and bombings over the last decade, dozens of which were carried out by minors.
More than 50 children under 15 faced court last year suspected of murder or attempted murder, Strommer said. Under the current system, if convicted, they would go to youth homes where most inmates later reoffend, he added.
The aim of the measures was "to protect society from life-threatening crime, to protect victims of crime, often themselves children," he told reporters.
"By lowering the age of criminal responsibility ... fairer and proportionate sanctions can be imposed, and we will be able to create better conditions for rehabilitation than today."
Strommer said the government had backed down rather than risk a parliamentary vote that could have left the current system in place.
The ruling coalition only has a slim majority - and that with support of the populist Sweden Democrats - and some government lawmakers were expected to vote against the measure.
The government, which is trailing in opinion polls ahead of the September vote, has overhauled the criminal justice system, giving the police more power and introducing tougher sentences.
Its plan to send children as young as 13 who commit the most violent crimes to special prison units has raised concerns among opposition parties and experts who say there is no evidence such measures work.
The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child recommends that the age of criminal responsibility should be 14 at the lowest. The average age of criminal responsibility across Europe is 14.
(Reporting by Simon Johnson, editing by Terje Solsvik and Andrew Heavens)
