What factors are relevant when considering the age at which children should be held accountable for their offending? What are the implications for the age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales? (original) (raw)
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The age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales is currently ten years old. This is significantly younger than the European average and has been criticized by the United Nations for being too low. It is very difficult to strictly define a ‘child’ using rigid parameters such as age and for a variety of social, psychological, economic and biological reasons no two children mature at the same rate. The consequence of this is that children can be criminalized and prosecuted from an unreasonably young age for crimes they commit when they do not necessarily have the capacity, understanding and autonomy to do so completely of their own free will. There is an imbalance in the law of England and Wales between the way children are protected in substantive law, and how they are treated as defendants in the criminal justice system, with the latter seemingly ignoring their status and children and presuming a commission of crime is a mechanism by which this status is relinquished. In addition to this where younger children are concerned civil, rather than criminal penalties may be far more productive, as evidence suggests reoffending rates amongst young people within the Youth Justice System are extraordinarily high and as such the rehabilitative intent is rarely fulfilled. With this in mind the age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales should be extended and children below the age of fourteen years should not be considered to have criminal liability and dealt with by civil, rather than criminal, procedures.
Raise the age? Children's attitudes towards the minimum age of criminal responsibility
2017
The minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) is the age at which a child who commits an offence is considered to have attained the emotional, intellectual and mental maturity to understand their actions, can be formally charged and held responsible in a criminal procedure. Northern Ireland (along with England & Wales) has one of the lowest ages of criminal responsibility in Europe, with children being held responsible for their actions from the age of ten. This is out of line with other age markers, including the age of sexual consent (16), the age at which it is legal to drive a car (17) and the age at which a person is entitled to vote (18). At 10 the MACR in Northern Ireland is below the minimum recommended by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which considers that any limit below the age of 12 is not acceptable. The Committee has recommended an increase in the minimum age of criminal responsibility in each of its Concluding Observations on the UK’s compliance, in ...
Safer Communities, 2014
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the tension between government protestations that youth justice policy is evidence-led and what the evidence implies in the context of the age of criminal responsibility. Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes the form of a conceptual analysis of government policy and the evidence base. Findings – The paper concludes that the current low age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales can be understood as a manifestation of the influence of underclass theory on successive governments. Research limitations/implications – The paper is not based on primary research. Practical implications – The arguments adduced help to explain the reluctance of government to countenance any increase in the age of criminal responsibility. Social implications – The analysis might help inform approaches adopted by youth justice policy makers, practitioners and academics with an interest in seeking a rise in the age of criminal responsibility. O...
Raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility in Scotland: law reform at last?
Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, 2018
Children in Scotland are held criminally responsible from the age of 8, something that has attracted wholly justified criticism within the country and from international organisations, including the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. Despite the fact that this puts Scots law in the same camp as some of the world’s least progressive regimes, proposals to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility have, to date, been rejected. For the second time this century, a government-appointed advisory group recently recommended raising the age to 12. Setting the minimum age of criminal responsibility in Scotland in the context of historical, international and comparative developments and the burgeoning contemporary literature, this article argues that the climate for change has never been better. It predicts that, this time, the advisory group’s recommendation will result in legislative reform and highlights the challenges that will result.