Sunday 2 September 2007

At what age should we have criminal responsibility?



A new report (here) says that thousands of crimes in the UK are committed by those under the age of 10. In the UK the current age for criminal responsibility is 10. This means those under 10 cannot be prosecuted for a crime. In the USA the age of criminal responsibility is 6 (in some states) but other countries have a much higher age limit (in Spain and Portugal it is 16 and in Brazil and Peru its 18!).

Do you think the age for criminal responsibility is right at 10 years old in England? Should it be higher? Should it be lower?