Age of Criminal Responsibility Bill passes final stage

The minimum age at which children in Scotland can be treated as offenders will rise from eight to 12, following the passing of the Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Bill after its stage 3 consideration at Holyrood yesterday.

MSPs rejected a final attempt by Liberal Democrat Alex Cole-Hamilton to raise the age to 16 rather than 12, despite calls by the Children's Commissioner and others that 14 or 16 would be more in line with best practice internationally. However 12 is still the highest minimum age provided for in the UK.

Children's Minister Maree Todd has also announced a new advisory group to take forward a review of the legislation and consider whether the age should be raised to higher than 12.

Under the new law an independent reviewer will be appointed to scrutinise any potential release of information relating to when a person was under 12. The independent review process provides a significant additional protection, while ensuring that information can still be released when necessary for public protection reasons.

The bill was unanimously approved following the final debate.

Ms Todd said: "Today is an historic day. This groundbreaking law delivers a bold, progressive, child-centred approach that will make a real difference to children’s lives.

"We can be proud that Scotland is leading the way in the UK. This new law means that no child under 12 will ever again be arrested or charged with an offence in Scotland. But the Bill also ensures that serious harmful behaviour will be investigated appropriately and victims will continue to get the support they need."