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Twelve year old offenders can now be tried as adults in Panama and spend up to 12 years in jail, as part of a new get tough on crime package.
President Ricardo Martinell confessed on Thursday to feeling helpless about murders, and increasing insecurity and crime on the Isthmus, and promised a "relentless war" against criminals. He even hinted at the introduction of capital punishment.
Afterwards he signed off on a bill "Special Regime of the Juvenile Criminal Responsibility" and published  in the Official Gazette on, Saturday.

With the new law, passed by Parliament onFebruary 9, the maximum punishment for children remains at 12 years in prison, but the age at which a minor can be prosecuted has dropped to 12 years.

In addition, parents or those exercising parental authority over those who have not reached that age will be held civilly responsible for the actions of their children.

This is the latest of the measures the Martinelli government which shortly after assuming power in July last year established a 9 p.m. curfew for minors and raised the maximum penalty to 50 years in prison.
Meanwhile the crime rate has exploded with one killing every 12 hours.