Juveniles under criminal law in Chile. Substantive criminal law standards for a differentiated adjudication and disposition

Abstract

Considering the principles underlying it, juvenile criminal law requires that judicial reasoning takes into account juvenile's special features and forms of interaction. Several substantive criminal law standards for a differentiated adjudication and disposition, based on those principles, can be found in the field of comparative law. Even though Chilean legal scholars are increasingly interested in developing these standards, judicial reasoning seems to accept only those referred to disposition. However, some isolated evidences show that courts, while deciding the "seriousness of the crime" in the phase of disposition, take into account some differences in the crimes committed by juveniles, with adjudication-like reasons.