Giorgia Meloni's government announced the approval of a bill to make it easier to prosecute minors suspected of crimes. The measure modifies the definition of "imputability" for juveniles aged 14 to 18. Currently, they are accountable and so prosecutable, but their mental ability must be proven on a case-by-case basis by a judge and cannot be assumed, as with adults. The measure instead states that juveniles are treated as adults and are always assumed to be mentally competent, unless proven otherwise. Judicial assessment of a minor’s capacity to understand and exercise free will is provided for under the legal system because of the particular condition of minors, who can have different levels of maturity even at the same age, as well as different awareness of their actions. The measure adopted by the Council of Ministers is a draft law; it will not go into effect immediately and must be debated and passed by both chambers of Parliament. The government's bill is an additional step toward making juveniles more easily prosecutable. In September 2023, the Meloni government adopted a decree that increased youth penalties and made it easier for them to end up in prison. One of the decree’s most significant measures was to reduce the opportunities for young detainees to serve their sentences outside prison.