Los Limitantes de la Penalidad Juvenil en el Perú 2024 al 2025

This mixed formative research article examined in documentary form the structural limits in the last five regulatory and operational years of juvenile criminality in Peru from 2020 to 2025, from the entry into force of Law No. 32330 in 2024. This law amends Articles 20 (numeral 2) and 22 (first paragraph) of the Penal Code (Legislative Decree No. 635), as well as provisions of the Code of Criminal Responsibility of Adolescents (Legislative Decree No. 1348), incorporating 16 and 17 year old adolescents as criminally liable in cases of serious crimes. The qualitative, documentary research addresses the impact of this reform from a legal-criminological approach, identifying relevant limitations in the design and implementation of the new legal framework. The lack of differentiated criminal treatment mechanisms, the institutional weakness in juvenile centers, the lack of specialized protocols in juvenile criminal justice, and the tension between punishability and the principle of the best interest of the adolescent enshrined in international human rights treaties are evidenced. It is concluded that, despite its purpose of deterrence and crime control, the law presents normative gaps and risks of regressivity in the protection of the fundamental rights of minors, so that its application requires a comprehensive public policy, with a preventive, restorative and socio-educational approach.