Suche
Mein Konto
New youth prison in Vienna-Simmering: costs and challenges!
Find out everything about the new youth prison in Vienna-Simmering: costs, capacities and challenges since 2025.
New youth prison in Vienna-Simmering: costs and challenges!
In Vienna-Simmering, the new Münnichplatz prison (JA) for young offenders began operations in January 2025. The gross construction costs for the youth prison amount to around 4.73 million euros, as vienna.at reports. It currently houses 15 inmates between the ages of 15 and 17, while the staff consists of 34 employees, including 23 law enforcement officers. A final capacity of 72 male youth aged 14 to 18 and 60 law enforcement officers is planned.
What is particularly interesting is the fact that major construction work was taking place while operations were ongoing, which led to exciting operations. There were even reports of outside people attempting to contact those detained. Despite these circumstances, they have positioned themselves well: According to a parliamentary question from National Council member Christian Lausch (FPÖ) in May 2025, some deficiencies were documented, mainly in the area of the bathrooms. However, the correction of these deficiencies is well advanced and is expected to be completed in summer 2025.
Quality assurance and safety
In order to ensure the quality of operations, a “security partnership” was established with other prisons. However, there is no information about security-related incidents or additional security measures, and this is for “security-related reasons”. Full capacity utilization of the Münnichplatz correctional institution is scheduled to begin in November 2025, which is seen as an important step for juvenile justice enforcement in Austria.
About juvenile criminal law in Austria
Youth criminal law in Austria is an independent area of criminal law that applies to young people between the ages of 14 and 18 and to young adults up to 21, although with exceptions for particularly serious offenses. It should be noted that children under the age of 14 are not of criminal responsibility and cannot be prosecuted under criminal law. Instead, educational measures by youth welfare or social authorities come into play here.
The maximum possible prison sentence for juveniles is a maximum of 15 years, although the penalties are milder than in adult criminal law.
An example of a common crime among young people would be robbery: snatching a cell phone under threat of violence can be punished with up to 7.5 years in prison, although the court has a certain amount of leeway in determining the punishment. The aim of defense in juvenile criminal law is often to avoid an entry in the criminal record and to secure social prospects for the young person, as explained on rechtsanwalt-flatz.at.
The Münnichplatz correctional institution therefore plays a central role in Austrian juvenile criminal law and shows how important it is to maintain proper operations even in challenging situations. With the right measures, attempts are made to give young perpetrators a better future.