Armenia’s Investigative Committee reported an increase in juvenile crime cases in early 2025, with more proceedings compared to the same period last year.
According to the committee, 344 criminal proceedings involving minors were investigated in the first six months of 2025, up from 298 a year earlier. Of these, 172 were carried over from 2024, compared to 128 the year before.
Out of the total, 33 proceedings involving 35 minors were sent to court with indictments (2024: 29 proceedings with 32 individuals). Meanwhile, 92 proceedings were closed (2024: 94), including 56 on rehabilitative grounds (2024: 38) and 36 on non-rehabilitative grounds (2024: 56).
Additionally, 3 cases were transferred to other bodies (2024: 1), 19 were merged with other cases (2024: 12), and 12 were registered as completed with investigative and evidentiary actions carried out (2024: 30). Another 185 cases were carried over to the second half of the year (2024: 132).
Among the 32 cases sent to court were charges of 2 murders, 6 cases of serious bodily harm, 1 robbery, 2 thefts, 1 extortion, 2 hooliganism incidents, 6 illegal arms trafficking cases, 3 drug-related offenses, and 9 other crimes.
During the reporting period, prosecution was terminated for 56 minors on non-rehabilitative grounds (2024: 77). A total of 27 minors were detained (2024: 56), of whom 17 were later released (2024: 46).
Courts received 15 motions for pretrial detention (2024: 10). Of these, 5 were fully granted (same as in 2024), 5 partially granted (2024: 5), and 5 rejected. Use of house arrest increased, applied to 5 minors (2024: 2), while 1 minor was placed under administrative supervision.
In total, 39 petitions related to juvenile offenses were filed during the period.
