Raising the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility

Our key call for change:

• Raise the Minium Age of Criminal Responsibility to 14 years of age.

Background information and introduction to our work

The age of criminal responsibility is still a reserved matter for the UK Government.

At 10 years of age, England and Wales have been criticised for having one of the lowest ages of criminal responsibility in Western Europe. Children’s brains are still developing, to apply the same standards of criminal responsibility to a 10-year-old as we would to an adult, is to ignore large amounts of evidence about the immaturity of children at that age. The age of criminal responsibility is out of sync with other age-based legislation for children. 

Children who come into contact with the criminal justice system, are proven to have highly complex needs or have experienced trauma. These include:

• young people with speech and language difficulties,
• children who are neurodivergent or have additional learning needs,
• mental health problems,
• abused and neglected children
• and care experienced children.

Children from deprived backgrounds and ethnic minority backgrounds are also overrepresented in the criminal justice system.

Criminalising children is proven not to work, it actually does more harm than good. To prevent offending; early intervention, diversionary practices, and the reintegration of the child into society, creates better outcomes for children, than dealing with the child through the criminal justice system.

The Commission for Justice has recommended that the age of criminal responsibility be raised in Wales. If powers for Youth Justice are devolved to Wales, (as has been previously announced by the Welsh Government) there may be the possibility for the Welsh Government to increase the age of criminal responsibility to 14 years in line with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s recommendation (para 54 a).

Dr Rhian Croke has emphasised the importance of raising the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility being raised as part of ongoing discussions with Welsh Government to address the Concluding Observations of the UN Committee.