AN independent report has urged ministers to raise the age of criminal responsibility in Scotland to 16 and set up a new youth justice system for offenders up to the age of 21.
The work, commissioned jointly by the charity Action for Children and Bruce Adamson, Scotland’s Children and Young People’s Commissioner, also highlighted the lack of secure accommodation for young people.
The report was published after the death of 16-year-old William Lindsay, who took his own life in Polmont Young Offenders Institution two days after being sent there on remand.
Approximately half of the 84 places in secure care in Scotland are occupied by young people from outside the country, the Kilbrandon Again report said.
It was also critical of the length of time those who committed childhood offences can have to disclose them for, with enhanced provisions meaning this can be the case until the person is 40.
Richard Holloway, the former bishop of Edinburgh, chaired the study of youth justice systems more than 50 years on from the 1964 Kilbrandon report, which led to the establishment of the current Children’s Hearing System.
He stressed an overhaul is “long overdue”. While the Scottish Government is bringing in legislation to raise the age of criminal responsibility from eight – the lowest in Europe – to 12, Holloway called on ministers to “be more radical”.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said that “raising the age of criminal responsibility to 12 is the right reform for Scotland at this time”.
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