Age of Criminal Responsibility Bill passes first stage

The bill to raise to 12 the age of criminal responsibility in Scotland was given the unanimous support of MPSs at stage 1 in the Scottish Parliament yesterday.

However some members argued that the Scottish Government should go further, with Liberal Alex Cole-Hamilton in particular backing the call by Bruce Adamson, the Children and Young People's Commissioner, that "we need to be looking at 14 or 16 as the norm, internationally".

Children's Minister Maree Todd maintained that higher ages in other European jurisdictions had to be seen in context, and some permitted exceptions for serious harm, or civil detention on mental health or care grounds. She added:

"We should also recognise that the law has already been changed in Scotland so that no child under 12 can be prosecuted for a criminal offence in an adult court. That is different from the situation in many other countries, as is our approach to youth justice. I am confident that the position that is adopted in the bill, which is to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 12, is the right one."

She observed: "Only a few years ago, we would not have been here, with a consensus right across the chamber that the age of criminal responsibility should be raised. Now, our discussions are about what age to raise that age to and what safeguards and other issues need to be addressed. That is a significant and welcome shift."

Mr Cole-Hamilton said the United Nations had wanted 12 to be adopted as the minimum age by 2007 and countries to work upwards from then, so "This is not a radical bill – it is not even a progressive bill."

Click here to view the report of the debate.