Should the age of criminal responsibility be raised for young people?
Throughout history it has always been custom that young children do not understand the true consequences of their actions and therefore are incapable of committing an offence, however, the age of when children are able to understand the full extent of their actions has always created very diverse opinions. The age of criminal responsibility has always been a highly critical topic of discussion, with many believing that the age should be raised to create more just outcomes.
Legislation of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 implemented an age of criminal responsibility of 8 years old. The Children and Young Person’s Act 1963 raised this to 10 years old which remains to be the age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales to date. Any child under this age that commits a criminal offence cannot be found guilty. Until 1999, there was also a presumption in law of Doli Incapax, meaning that children 14 years or younger did not understand the difference between right and wrong and therefore they couldn’t be held criminally liable for committing an offence. However, judges were able to rebut this presumption if they knew the child knew what they were doing was seriously wrong. However, this
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The question as to whether a child can be criminally liable focuses upon whether the child can understand the difference between right and wrong. Critics however, argue that there should also be a test of the child’s intellectual capability to determine whether they can be held criminally liable as all children develop at different levels, therefore where one 10 year old understands the true consequences of their actions, another may not. This could include children who have learning