Raising the age of criminal responsibility....

The Law Society has said that the age of criminal responsibility is too low.  As you can imagine, I disagree.


The way children are viewed can be seen as two extremes. On the one hand are the feral offspring of uncaring parents, allowed to roam the streets of our nation, striking terror in the heart of law-abiding citizens. On the other, are precious little innocents, who even as teenagers, shouldn't be subjected to the harsh realities of modern life, and need to be wrapped in cotton wool. Metaphorically speaking. When commentators say that the age of criminal responsibility is too high, I am convinced that they have the latter in mind. Even where they consider the former, their behaviour is written off as a product of society, and that they have been failed, and couldn't possibly be able to know right from wrong.  The reality is, children fall somewhere in between. 


The article keeps referring to young children, and yes, it's right that young children aren't criminalised. Despite popular myth, a 10 year old does have some idea of what is right and what is wrong. I was 10 years old, I can remember what it was like. Hitting other people? Wrong. Stealing? Wrong. If kids didn't know the difference, then surely more children would be committing crimes. They don't because they know it is wrong. At the age of 10, kids are on the verge of joining 'big' school. Some are close to reaching adolescence, physically, so why is it hard to imagine they cannot be intellectually? In my opinion, 10 is the right age for children to accept responsibility for their actions. To qualify this further, there are many parents, middle-class and supposedly upright, who on the one hand molly-coddle their kids, yet are happy for their little girls to wear make up and clothing more suited to women twice their age. Hmmm....


As well as this, could raising the age lead to some children playing the system to get out of being punished? Children of all ages can be manipulative with adults, and can say things that help their own situation. An older child/young teen who is used to lying may find it even easier once they've been exposed to the criminal justice system. At times, it seems like adults underestimate the capabilities of those under 18, this could be a big mistake in the long run.


Would re-introducing doli incapax help? Possibly, but if a child between 10-14 years of age doesn't understand the nature of their actions, in terms of criminal responsibility, then surely they don't have the necessary mens rea for the offence in the first place? And if this is the case, then why should the age of criminal responsibility be increased?