Currently in England and Wales, the age of criminal responsibility is 10 years old. In a think tank set up by Iain Duncan Smith, it has been said today that the age of criminal responsibility should be increased to 12 years old. This increase in age applies to any criminal offence ranging from shoplifting to murder.
This new proposal is likely to come under debate by ministers and the public especially because Robert Thompson and Jon Venables would not have been charged for the murder of toddler James Bulger. This increase in age for criminal responsibility has arisen after experts have claimed that children under the age of 13 do not fully understand the consequences of their actions.
The Centre for Social Justice created these proposals and has already received backing from 33 youth law experts. However, CSJ stated that for serious crimes such as rape and murder, they would not be increasing the age to 12 straight away. The Liberal Democrats and children’s charity Barnado’s will be supporting this new proposal however Justice Minister Crispin Blunt has already said that he opposes it. Barnado’s has said that by entering into the criminal justice system, children who commit low level crimes are more likely to reoffend. They have also stated that other than crimes such as rape, murder, manslaughter and other serious crimes, the age of criminal responsibility should be increased to 12 for all other crimes.
Do you think the age of criminal responsibility should be increased? Have your say.
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