age of criminal responsibility
{{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}}
{{Short description|Minimum age at which a child is capable of committing criminal offences}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}File:Criminal age.svg
{{Criminal defenses}}
{{Youth rights sidebar}}
{{Criminology and penology}}
The age of criminal responsibility is the age below which a child is deemed incapable of having committed a criminal offence. In legal terms, it is referred to as a defence/defense of infancy, which is a form of defense known as an excuse so that defendants falling within the definition of an "infant" are excluded from criminal liability for their actions, if at the relevant time, they had not reached an age of criminal responsibility. After reaching the initial age, there may be levels of responsibility dictated by age and the type of offense committed.{{Cite web |last=Academy |first=The British |date=2022-04-01 |title=Age of Criminal Responsibility |url=https://medium.com/reframing-childhood-past-and-present/age-of-criminal-responsibility-1e7714db9c1c |access-date=2022-09-23 |website=Reframing Childhood Past and Present |language=en}}
Under the English common law the defense of infancy was expressed as a set of presumptions in a doctrine known as doli incapax.{{Cite web |title=Doctrine of 'Doli Incapax' {{!}} Office of Justice Programs |url=https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/doctrine-doli-incapax |access-date=2022-09-23 |website=www.ojp.gov}} A child under the age of seven was presumed incapable of committing a crime. The presumption was conclusive, prohibiting the prosecution from offering evidence that the child had the capacity to appreciate the nature and wrongfulness of what they had done. Children aged 7–13 were presumed incapable of committing a crime but the presumption was rebuttable. The prosecution could overcome the presumption by proving that the child understood what they were doing and that it was wrong. In fact, capacity was a necessary element of the state's case (thus, the rule of sevens doctrine arose). If the state failed to offer sufficient evidence of capacity, the infant was entitled to have the charges dismissed at the close of the state's evidence. Doli incapax was abolished in England and Wales in 1998 for children over the age of 10,{{Cite web|url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/37/section/34|title=Crime and Disorder Act 1998}}{{cite web|url=https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200809/ldjudgmt/jd090429/jtb-1.htm|title=House of Lords - R v JTB (Appellant) (on appeal from the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division))|first=Law Lords|last=Department|website=publications.parliament.uk|access-date=21 March 2018|archive-date=27 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181027185659/https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200809/ldjudgmt/jd090429/jtb-1.htm|url-status=live}} but persists in other common law jurisdictions.
Terminology
The terminology regarding such a defense varies by jurisdiction and sphere. "Defense of infancy" is a mainly US term.{{cite web|url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-criminallaw/chapter/6-2-infancy-intoxication-ignorance-and-mistake/|title=6.2 Infancy, Intoxication, Ignorance, and Mistake|website=ER Services|series=Criminal Law|access-date=25 August 2020|archive-date=25 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125170332/https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-criminallaw/chapter/6-2-infancy-intoxication-ignorance-and-mistake/|url-status=live}} The "age of criminal responsibility" is used by most European countries, the UK,Stattin, Hekan, and David Magnusson. "Stability and change in criminal behaviour up to age 30." British Journal of Criminology 31.4 (1991): 327-346. Australia, New Zealand{{cite web|url=https://cycj.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/MACR-International-Profile-New-Zealand.pdf|title=Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility (MACR) – Comparative Analysis International Profile – New Zealand|first=Yanna|last=Papadodimitraki|date=2016|publisher=Centre for Youth & Criminal Justice|access-date=25 August 2020|journal=|archive-date=17 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217180215/https://cycj.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/MACR-International-Profile-New-Zealand.pdf|url-status=live}} and other Commonwealth of Nations countries.{{cite journal|last= Sharma|first= Vishnu D.|title= The Age of Criminal Responsibility in India|journal= Journal of the Indian Law Institute|volume= 12|issue= 1|date= 1970|jstor= 43950059|pages= 139–50|access-date= 25 August 2020|url= http://www.jstor.org/stable/43950059|archive-date= 3 August 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210803162938/https://www.jstor.org/stable/43950059|url-status= live}} Other instances of usage have included the terms age of accountability,Ranson, Stewart. "Public accountability in the age of neo-liberal governance." J. Education Policy 18.5 (2003): 459-480. age of responsibility,Platt, Anthony, and Bernard L. Diamond. "The origins of the right and wrong test of criminal responsibility and its subsequent development in the United States: An historical survey." Cal. L. Rev. 54 (1966): 1227. and age of liability.Ferreira, Nuno. "Putting the age of criminal and tort liability into context: A dialogue between law and psychology." The International Journal of Children's Rights 16.1 (2008): 29-54.
The term minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) is a term commonly used in the literature.{{cite journal | last1=McAlister | first1=Siobhan | last2=Carr | first2=Nicola | last3=Dwyer | first3=Clare D. | last4=Lloyd | first4=Katrina | title=Raise the Age? Children's Attitudes Towards the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility | website=papers.ssrn.com | date=19 June 2017 | ssrn=2988947 | url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2988947 | access-date=25 August 2020 | archive-date=3 August 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803162921/https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2988947 | url-status=live }}
The rationale behind the age of accountability laws are the same as those behind the insanity defense, insinuating both the mentally disabled and the young lack apprehension.Roberts, Caton F., Stephen L. Golding, and Frank D. Fincham. "Implicit theories of criminal responsibility: Decision making and the insanity defense." Law and Human Behavior 11.3 (1987): 207.
The age of criminal responsibility
{{also|Minor (law)}}
Governments enact laws to label certain types of activity as wrongful or illegal. Behavior of a more antisocial nature can be stigmatized in a more positive way to show society's disapproval through the use of the word criminal. In this context, laws tend to use the phrase, "age of criminal responsibility" in two different ways:
- As a definition of the process for dealing with an alleged offender, the range of ages specifies the exemption of a child from the adult system of prosecution and punishment. Most jurisdictions develop special juvenile justice systems in parallel to the adult criminal justice system. Here, the hearings are essentially welfare-based and deal with children as in need of compulsory measures of treatment and/or care. Children are diverted into this system when they have committed what would have been an offense as an adult.
- As the physical capacity of a child to commit a crime. Hence, children are deemed incapable of committing some sexual or other acts requiring abilities of a more mature quality.
Discussion
{{See also|Criminal responsibility in French law}}
This is an aspect of the public policy of parens patriae. In the criminal law, each state will consider the nature of its own society and the available evidence of the age at which antisocial behaviors begins to manifest itself. Some societies will have qualities of indulgence toward the young and inexperienced, and will not wish them to be exposed to the criminal law system before all other avenues of response have been exhausted. Hence, some states have a policy of doli incapax (i.e. incapable of wrong) and exclude liability for all acts and omissions that would otherwise have been criminal after reaching a specified age.{{cite journal|author=Dalby JT. |title=Criminal liability in children |journal=Canadian Journal of Criminology |year=1985 |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=137–145|doi=10.3138/cjcrim.27.2.137 }} Hence, no matter what the child may have done, there cannot be a criminal prosecution. However, although no criminal liability is inferred, other aspects of law may be applied. For example, in Nordic countries, an offense by a person under 15 years of age is considered mostly a symptom of problems in child's development. This will cause the social authorities to take appropriate administrative measures to secure the development of the child. Such measures may range from counseling to placement at a special care unit. Being non-judicial, the measures are not dependent on the severity of the offense committed but on the overall circumstances of the child.{{Cite web |last=KKIENERM |title=Crime Prevention & Criminal Justice Module 13 Key Issues: Topic four - Justice for children in conflict with the law |url=https://www.unodc.org/e4j/en/crime-prevention-criminal-justice/module-13/key-issues/4--justice-for-children-in-conflict-with-the-law.html |access-date=2022-10-08 |website=unodc.org |language=en}}
The policy of treating minors as incapable of committing crimes does not necessarily reflect modern sensibilities. Thus, if the rationale of the excuse is that children below a certain age lack the capacity to form the mens rea of an offense, this may no longer be a sustainable argument. Indeed, given the different speeds at which people may develop both physically and intellectually, any form of explicit age limit may be arbitrary and irrational. Yet, the sense that children do not deserve to be exposed to criminal punishment in the same way as adults remains strong. Children have not had experience of life, nor do they have the same mental and intellectual capacities as adults. Hence, it might be considered unfair to treat young children in the same way as adults.
In Scotland, the age of criminal responsibility was raised from 8 to 12 by the implementation of the Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Act 2019,{{cite web | title=Youth justice: Raising the age of criminal responsibility | website=gov.scot | date=7 May 2019 | url=https://www.gov.scot/policies/youth-justice/raising-age-criminal-responsibility/ | access-date=20 October 2020 | archive-date=19 October 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019210729/http://www.gov.scot/policies/youth-justice/raising-age-criminal-responsibility/ | url-status=live }} which came into force on 31 March 2020.{{cite web | title=The Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Act 2019 (Commencement No. 2) Regulations 2020 | website=Legislation.gov.uk | date=11 March 2020 | url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2020/74/regulation/1/made | access-date=20 October 2020 | archive-date=3 August 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803162920/https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2020/74/regulation/1/made | url-status=live }}{{cite web | title=Young people and the law | website=Citizens Advice Scotland | url=http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/scotland/law-and-courts/legal-system-s/taking-legal-action-s/young-people-and-the-law-s/ | access-date=20 October 2020 | archive-date=20 October 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020074115/https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/scotland/law-and-courts/legal-system-s/taking-legal-action-s/young-people-and-the-law-s/ | url-status=live }} In England and Wales and Northern Ireland, the age of responsibility is 10 years, and in the Netherlands and Canada the age of responsibility is 12 years. Sweden, Finland, and Norway all set the age at 15 years. In the United States, the minimum age for federal crimes is 11 years. State minimums vary, with 24 states having no defined minimum age, and defined minimums ranging from 7 years in Florida to 13 years in Maryland and New Hampshire.{{cite web |last1=Ward |first1=Jill |last2=Long |first2=Isabelle |date=July 2023 |title=Minimum Age Laws for Juvenile Court Jurisdiction and Confinement |website=nyjn.org |publisher=National Juvenile Justice Network |url=https://nyjn.org/wp-content/uploads/Updated072524_Minimum-Age-Laws-for-Juvenile-Court-Jurisdiction-and-Confinement.pdf |access-date=26 November 2024 }}
As the treaty parties of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court could not agree on a minimum age for criminal responsibility, they chose to solve the question procedurally and excluded the jurisdiction of the Court for persons under eighteen years.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}
Some jurisdictions do not have a set fixed minimum age, but leave discretion to prosecutors to argue or the judges to rule on whether the child or adolescent ("juvenile") defendant understood that what was being done was wrong. If the defendant did not understand the difference between right and wrong, it may not be considered appropriate to treat such a person as culpable. Alternatively, the lack of real fault in the offender can be recognized by rulings that avoid criminal sentences and/or address more practical matters of parental responsibility by adjusting the rights of parents to unsupervised custody, or by separate criminal proceedings against the parents for breach of their duties as parents.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}
By country
The following are the minimum ages at which people may be charged with a criminal offence in each country:
{{cite web|url=https://reliefweb.int/report/philippines/decade-review-child-rights-advocates-present-ngo-alternative-report-status|title=The decade in review: Child rights advocates present 'NGO Alternative Report' on status of children's rights in PH|publisher=ChildFund International|via=reliefweb.int|date=November 26, 2020|access-date=17 January 2021|archive-date=22 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122080440/https://reliefweb.int/report/philippines/decade-review-child-rights-advocates-present-ngo-alternative-report-status|url-status=live}}|-
| {{flag|Poland}}
| 13
|17
| {{hidden|Notes|17 is the standard age of criminal liability in Poland. Minors from the age of 15 can be tried as adults in relation to especially heinous crimes such as treason, assassination of Polish President, murder, homicide, serious bodily harm, causing a catastrophe, assault of a public servant, hostage-taking, rape and robbery, when "the circumstances of the case and the mental state of development of the perpetrator, his characteristics and personal situation warrant it, and especially when previously applied educational, therapeutic or corrective measures have proved ineffective". On the other hand, the Court may choose to apply juvenile measures for perpetrators above the age of 17 but below the age of 18, if "the circumstances of the case and the mental state of development of the perpetrator, his characteristics and personal situation warrant it". Juvenile correctional proceedings liability age is 13. Juvenile educational and therapeutic proceedings liability applies to all persons under the age of 18 (including persons below 13 years of age).{{cite web|url=http://prawo.legeo.pl/prawo/ustawa-z-dnia-26-pazdziernika-1982-r-o-postepowaniu-w-sprawach-nieletnich/dzial-i_przepisy-ogolne/?on=25.03.2014|title=Przepisy ogólne|access-date=28 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723013506/http://prawo.legeo.pl/prawo/ustawa-z-dnia-26-pazdziernika-1982-r-o-postepowaniu-w-sprawach-nieletnich/dzial-i_przepisy-ogolne/?on=25.03.2014|archive-date=23 July 2015|url-status=dead}} The maximum possible sentence that can be imposed on offenders taking criminal liability under 18 years of age is 25 years' imprisonment.}}
|-
| {{flag|Portugal}}
| 16
| 18/21
|
|-
| {{flag|Qatar}}
| 7
|
|
|-
| {{flag|Romania}}
| 16
| 18
|A child aged 14 to 16 can only be held criminally liable where it can be proved that he or she had "discernment"{{hidden|Notes|For offences for which an adult would be sentenced to life imprisonment, a person between the ages of 14 and 18 would be sentenced to no more than 15 years of "strict imprisonment"
For offences for which an adult would be sentenced to "severe detention" a person between the ages of 14 and 18 would be sentenced to no more than 12 years of "strict imprisonment"
}}
|-
| {{flag|Russia}}
| 14
|16
| {{hidden|Notes|16 by default, 14 years specifically for crimes as listed in Section 20 of the Criminal code, like murder, rape, robbery, extortion, kidnapping, motor vehicle theft, terror attack, stealing restricted substances like explosives or narcotics, aggravated anti-social behaviour, vandalism, false report of a terror attack.}}
|-
|{{Flag|Rwanda}}
|14
|
|{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}
|
|-
| {{flag|San Marino}}
| 14
| 18/21
|[https://www.consigliograndeegenerale.sm/on-line/documento17088264.html Sanmarinese Penal Code] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028011314/https://www.consigliograndeegenerale.sm/on-line/documento17088264.html |date=28 October 2020 }} (2019), Art. 10 par. 1[https://www.consigliograndeegenerale.sm/on-line/documento17088264.html Sanmarinese Penal Code] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028011314/https://www.consigliograndeegenerale.sm/on-line/documento17088264.html |date=28 October 2020 }} (2019), Art. 10 par. 2, 3
|
|-
| {{flag|São Tomé and Príncipe}}
|16
|
|{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}
|
|-
| {{flag|Saudi Arabia}}
| 12
|
|
|-
|{{Flag|Senegal}}
|13
|
|{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}
|
|-
|{{Flag|Serbia}}
|14
|18
|Persons aged 14 or 15 ("younger juveniles") can only be sentenced to educational measures
|-
|{{Flag|Seychelles}}
|7
|
|
|-
|{{Flag|Sierra Leone}}
|14
|
|{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}
|
|-
| {{flag|Singapore}}
| 10
|
|{{Singapore legislation|title=Penal Code|titlelink=Penal Code (Singapore)|cap=224|ed=2008}}, section 82{{cite web |url=https://irblaw.com.sg/learning-centre/juvenile-crimes-in-singapore-spare-the-rod-spoil-the-child/ |title=Juvenile Crimes in Singapore: Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child |website=irblaw.com.sg |date=2020-02-08}}
| The Penal Code Review Committee proposed to increase the age to 10. Offenders between 16 and 21 are classed as Young Adults and may be considered for reformative training.
|-
|{{Flag|Slovakia}}
|14
|
|{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}
|
|-
| {{flag|Slovenia}}
| 14
| 18/21
|
|-
|{{Flag|Solomon Islands}}
|8
|
|{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}
|
|-
|{{Flag|Somalia}}
|14/15
|
|15 in Somaliland, 14 in the rest of the country.
|-
| {{flag|South Africa}}
| 12
|14
| {{cite press release |title=Parliament adopts Child Justice Amendment Bill |url=https://www.gov.za/speeches/justice-and-correctional-services-portfolio-committee-adopts-child-justice-bill-14-nov-2018 |location=Cape Town |publisher=Parliament of South Africa |date=14 November 2018 |access-date=2020-06-11 |archive-date=11 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611194217/https://www.gov.za/speeches/justice-and-correctional-services-portfolio-committee-adopts-child-justice-bill-14-nov-2018 |url-status=live }}{{cite act |type=Act |index=28 |date=4 June 2020 |legislature=Parliament of South Africa |title=Child Justice Amendment Act, 2019 |url=https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202006/43402gon641.pdf |access-date=11 June 2020 |archive-date=11 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611194421/https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202006/43402gon641.pdf |url-status=live }}
| The age of criminal capacity was raised to 12 by the Child Justice Amendment Act, 2019. There is a rebuttable presumption that a child between the ages of 12 and 14 lacks criminal capacity.
|-
| {{flag|South Korea}}
| 12
| 14
|
|-
|{{Flag|South Sudan}}
|12
|
|
|-
| {{flag|Spain}}
| 14
| 18
|[https://www.boe.es/buscar/pdf/1995/BOE-A-1995-25444-consolidado.pdf Spanish Penal Code] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508082436/https://www.boe.es/buscar/pdf/1995/BOE-A-1995-25444-consolidado.pdf |date=8 May 2020 }} (2019), Art. 19[https://www.boe.es/buscar/pdf/2000/BOE-A-2000-641-consolidado.pdf Spanish Regulation Law on the Penal Responsibility of Minors] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723174601/https://www.boe.es/buscar/pdf/2000/BOE-A-2000-641-consolidado.pdf |date=23 July 2020 }} (2012), Art. 1 par. 1[https://www.boe.es/buscar/pdf/1995/BOE-A-1995-25444-consolidado.pdf Spanish Penal Code] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508082436/https://www.boe.es/buscar/pdf/1995/BOE-A-1995-25444-consolidado.pdf |date=8 May 2020 }} (2019), Art. 69
|{{hidden|Notes|A person under the age of 18 can be sentenced to closed detention for a single offence if:
(i) the facts establish that the person has committed a felony under the Penal Code or special penal laws; (ii) the relevant crime was classified as a misdemeanour, but involved violence or intimidation against persons or has generated serious risk to life or physical safety; or (iii) the acts are classified as crimes committed in groups, organisations or associations
Persons aged 14 or 15 may be sentenced to a maximum of three years detention and persons aged 16 or 17 may not be sentenced to more than six years detention.
}}
|-
|{{Flag|Sri Lanka}}
|12
|14
|Rebuttable presumption of incapacity until age 14.
|-
| {{flag|Sudan}}
|12
|18
|{{Cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/article/sudan-new-law-amending-penal-code-takes-effect/ |title=Sudan: New Law Amending Penal Code Takes Effect |website=Library of Congress |access-date=16 February 2021 |archive-date=24 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210324235145/https://loc.gov/law/foreign-news/article/sudan-new-law-amending-penal-code-takes-effect/ |url-status=live }}
|
|-
| {{flag|Sweden}}
| 15
| 18
|Previously the full age was 21, was reduced down to 18 in 2021.{{Cite web |last=Riksdagsförvaltningen |title=Slopad straffrabatt för unga myndiga vid allvarlig brottslighet Justitieutskottets Betänkande 2021/22:JuU5 - Riksdagen |url=https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-lagar/arende/betankande/slopad-straffrabatt-for-unga-myndiga-vid_H901JuU5 |access-date=2023-02-18 |website=www.riksdagen.se |date=17 November 2021 |language=sv}}
|-
| {{flag|Switzerland}}
| 10
| 18
| {{Cite web|url=https://www.crin.org/en/home/ages/europe|title=Minimum Ages of Criminal Responsibility in Europe |website=Child Rights International Network |language=en|access-date=20 May 2017|archive-date=10 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170310085838/https://www.crin.org/en/home/ages/europe|url-status=live}}
|Children aged 15 years at the time an offence was committed cannot be sentenced to more than one year of detention{{hidden|Notes|A child aged 16 or over when an offence was committed may not be sentenced to more than four years in detention, and only where:
(i) he or she committed an offence for which an adult could be sentenced to detention of more than three months; or (ii) he or she has committed an offence under Article 122 of the Criminal Code, related to intentionally inflicting a life-threatening injury; or (iii) he or she commits robbery as a member of a group formed for the purposes of carrying out repeated robberies or thefts under Article 140(3) of the Criminal Code; or (iv) the behaviour of the offender is such as to show particular ruthlessness or the behaviour or purpose of the act reveal a highly reprehensible state of mind
}}
|-
| {{flag|Syria}}
| 10
|
|
|-
| {{flag|Taiwan}}
| 12/14
| 18
| Article 18, {{cite web |url=https://law.moj.gov.tw/ENG/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?pcode=C0000001 |publisher=Laws & Regulations Database of The Republic of China (Taiwan) |title=Criminal Code of the Republic of China |access-date=2023-08-31}}{{cite web |url=https://law.moj.gov.tw/ENG/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?pcode=C0010011 |publisher=Laws & Regulations Database of The Republic of China (Taiwan) |title=Juvenile Justice Act |access-date=2023-08-31}}
| Minors between 12 and 14 cannot be trialed in criminal court, but could still be sentenced to juvenile probation or sent to correctional schools. Minors between 14 and 18 are subject to Criminal Code but qualify for reduction of sentence. Finally, the death penalty and life imprisonment cannot be sentenced to minor offenders.
|-
|{{Flag|Tajikistan}}
|14
|16
|
|-
| {{flag|Tanzania}}
| 7
|
|
|-
| {{flag|Thailand}}
| 7
|14
|
|-
| {{flag|Timor-Leste}}
| 16
|
|
|-
|{{Flag|Togo}}
|14
|
|
|-
| {{flag|Turkey}}
| 12
| 18
|
|-
| {{flag|Turkmenistan}}
| 14
|16
|
|-
|{{Flag|Tunisia}}
|13
|
|{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}
|
|-
| {{flag|Uganda}}
| 12
|
|
|-
| {{flag|Ukraine}}
| 14
|16
|
|-
| {{flag|United Arab Emirates}}
| 7
|
|
|-
| {{flag|United Kingdom}}
| 10/12
|12/15
| The Children and Young Persons Act 1933 (23 & 24 Geo.5 c.12), section 50; as amended by The Children and Young Persons Act 1963 (c.37), section 16(1) [http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?LegType=All+Legislation&Year=1933&searchEnacted=0&extentMatchOnly=0&confersPower=0&blanketAmendment=0&sortAlpha=0&TYPE=QS&PageNumber=1&NavFrom=0&parentActiveTextDocId=1109288&ActiveTextDocId=1109358&filesize=1425] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803162923/https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/23-24/12/section/50/2014-10-20?timeline=true|date=3 August 2021}}{{cite web|url=http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/CrimeJusticeAndTheLaw/Thejudicialsystem/DG_4003100|title=Age of criminal responsibility|access-date=28 July 2015|archive-date=4 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090604191515/http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/CrimeJusticeAndTheLaw/Thejudicialsystem/DG_4003100|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/adhocs/flags/reports/adhoc1-01_reform.htm|title=Report on the Draft Justice (NI) Bill of the Northern Ireland Assembly's official website|website=niassembly.gov.uk|access-date=21 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031034534/http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/adhocs/flags/reports/adhoc1-01_reform.htm|archive-date=31 October 2014|url-status=dead}}
|
10 in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Usually persons aged 10–11 will only be imprisoned in very serious cases, such as murder. Even more so the outcome for youth (12–17) criminal proceedings are usually age categorised (currently it will depend on whether the offender is under 12, under 14, under 16 or under 18, with the older the offender the more severity of punishment, especially for serious crimes).
12 in Scotland. Children under 12 cannot be convicted or get a criminal record; from 12 to 15, decision usually made by the Children's Reporter whether to refer to a children's hearing, which can lead to a criminal record, but could be prosecuted for a criminal offence if the offence is serious.
|-
| {{flag|United States}}
| varies by state{{cite web |author=Interstate Commission for Juveniles |author-link=Interstate Commission for Juveniles |title=Age Matrix |date=2023-03-15 |website=Interstate Compact for Juveniles |url=https://juvenilecompact.org/age-matrix |access-date=2023-08-13}}
| At the federal level, the minimum age of juvenile delinquency is 11 years, while 24 states have no minimum age of delinquency. The standards for transferal of juveniles to adult courts varies by state and may combine statutory limits with prosecutorial and judicial discretion.{{cite web |author=Juvenile Justice GPS |author-link=Juvenile Justice GPS |title=Jurisdictional boundaries |date=2016 |website=Juvenile Justice Geography, Policy, Practice, Statistics |url=http://www.jjgps.org/jurisdictional-boundaries |access-date=2023-08-13}}
|-
| {{flag|Uruguay}}
| 13
|18
|
|-
| {{flag|Uzbekistan}}
| 13
|16
| "Persons can be held criminally responsible for all offences committed after they have reached the age of 16, and for intentional killing from the age of 13, and for other specifically named offences from the age of 14. [Criminal Code, Article 17]"
|-
|{{Flag|Vanuatu}}
|10
|
|{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}
|
|-
| {{flag|Venezuela}}
| 14
|
|
|-
| {{flag|Vietnam}}
| 14
| 16
|
|-
| {{flag|Yemen}}
| 7
|
|
|-
| {{flag|Zambia}}
| 8
|12
|
|-
| {{flag|Zimbabwe}}
| 7
|14
|
|}
Juvenile courts
In some countries, a juvenile court is a court of special jurisdiction charged with adjudicating cases involving crimes committed by those who have not yet reached a specific age. If convicted in a juvenile court, the offender is found "responsible" for their actions as opposed to "guilty" of a criminal offense. Sometimes, in some jurisdictions (such as the United States of America), a minor may be tried as an adult.
See also
Notes
=Footnotes=
{{notelist}}
=References=
{{Reflist|2}}
Further reading
- Maher, Gerry. Age and Criminal Responsibility. 2005 Vol 2. Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law. 493 [https://web.archive.org/web/20051125035106/http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/osjcl/Articles/Volume2_2/Symposium/Maher-PDF-4-11-05.pdf Wayback Machine]
- CRC Country Reports (1992–1996); Juvenile Justice and Juvenile Delinquency in Central and Eastern Europe, 1995; United Nations, Implementation of UN Mandates on Juvenile Justice in ESCAP, 1994; Geert Cappelaere, Children's Rights Centre, University of Gent, Belgium.
{{Law country lists}}
{{Youth empowerment}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Age of criminal responsibility}}
Category:Age of criminal responsibility