Society, Faculty support Age of Criminal Responsibility Bill

The Law Society of Scotland and the Faculty of Advocates have each welcomed the bill to raise the age of criminal responsibility, introduced to the Scottish Parliament this week (click here for news item).

The Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Bill will bring Scotland into line with recommendations from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which has called for a minimum age of at least 12. While under-12s are already excluded from prosecution in the criminal courts, being referred to the children's hearing system, they can still be left with a criminal record which may be disclosable in later life.

Stuart Munro, from the Law Society of Scotland’s criminal law committee, commented: "Scotland’s age of criminal responsibility, at eight years of age, is currently the lowest in Europe and we are very pleased to see the Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Bill introduced to the Scottish Parliament.

"The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has said that setting the age of criminal responsibility below 12 is not ‘internationally acceptable’ and we have argued for several years that a child of eight is too young to be held criminally responsible. The interests of the child must be paramount and it is crucial that their welfare is the focus of attention, even in the difficult circumstances of offending behaviour. We do not think that children under the age of 12 should have their actions recorded as criminal.

"There are also inconsistencies in our law in that the age of criminal responsibility is currently eight years, but the age at which a child can be prosecuted is 12. This creates confusion in people’s understanding of criminal law and how it relates to children. Raising the age will bring it in line with the existing age of criminal prosecution in Scotland, providing clarity in the law, and will ensure that children are not treated and then labelled as offenders because of things they did when they were under 12 years old."

Gordon Jackson QC, Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, added: "We have supported the raising of the age of criminal responsibility from its current European low of eight to 12, and welcome the bill which has been introduced to the Scottish Parliament. We think it will have wide and strong support throughout the country, and that people will view it as a very forward-thinking move."