SCOTLAND is not in the best of company in terms of countries where the age of criminal responsibility is under ten. Indeed we are ranked with some of the least child-friendly states in the world.
At eight we’re in the same ranking as Kenya and slightly behind Iraq, where it’s nine.
But we’re a bit better than Thailand and India where girls and boys of seven can be held criminally responsible.
The law which sets the age of criminal responsibility in Scotland goes back to 1928 and while it was updated in 2010 to ensure children between eight and 12 cannot be prosecuted in a criminal court, youngsters of that age are still expected to have “legal capacity” and can be referred to the children’s hearing and held responsible for offences.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has criticised Scotland in maintaining eight as the age of criminal responsibility and as Children’s Commissioner Tam Baillie points out, criminalising children is unfair and damaging. Clearly the law is overdue for an update.
The Liberal Democrats want the age raised to 12, and while that is a move in the right direction it’s not the radical change we believe will create a truly progressive law.
While in the rest of the UK ten is the age where the law says a child can be held responsible for an offence, most enlightened parts of the world accept children are still learning about correct – and lawful –standards of behaviour until into their teens.
In Europe the French set the age of criminal responsibility at 13, the Italians 14, Danes 15 while the Spanish are not alone in setting it at 16. Similar ranges exist in Africa, Asia, South America and Canada.
The LibDems have set down a challenge to the other parties ahead of the Holyrood elections, let’s hope some will meet that challenge and even beat it.
‘Age of criminal responsibility must be increased’, says Scotland's children’s commissioner
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