Raising the age of criminal responsibility

In a letter printed in the Times, Just for Kids Law has joined the voices of other charities and practitioners to ask for the age of criminal responsibility to be raised. Written by Dr Eileen Vizard the letter calls for raising the age limit substantially in line with most other countries and proposes a consultation process to explore how this can be achieved.

The letter reads:

"The Times

Letters to the Editor

7th July 2010

Children and court

The age of criminal responsibility should be raised substantially in line with most other countries.

Sir, We are concerned about the very low age of criminal responsibility, ten years old, for children in England and Wales. The assumption that a ten-year-old can face charges is widely discussed in terms of whether or not that child can “understand the difference between right and wrong”. The question is more complicated — most ten-year-olds can understand that difference. The test should go beyond this and should decide whether the defendant’s intellectual capacity is such that he could not effectively participate in the proceedings and accordingly have a fair trial.

We believe that the age of criminal responsibility should be raised substantially in line with most other countries and propose a consultation process, led by the Law Commission, to explore how this could be rectified."

Dr Eileen Vizard, Child and adolescent psychiatrist; Shauneen Lambe, Director, Just for Kids Law; Professor Dinesh Bhugra, President, Royal College of Psychiatrists; Professor Sarah – Jane Blakemore UCL, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience; Juliet Lyon, Director, Prison Reform Trust; Paul Mendelle, QC Chairman, Criminal Bar Association; Andrew Flanaghan, CEO, NSPCC; Lord Ramsbotham, House of Lords. Plus 26 other signatories listed at thetimes.co.uk/letters