The Scottish Government has announced it is to raise the age of criminal responsibility from eight to 12.
Early Years Minister Mark McDonald confirmed the move in a statement to MSPs in the Scottish Parliament chamber.
At present, children under the age of 12 cannot be prosecuted in court in Scotland, but those aged eight and over can be referred to the children’s hearings system for offending.
An advisory group set up by the Scottish Government in 2015 recommended that the age of criminal responsibility be raised to 12.
Ministers held a consultation on the age change between March and June this year, but did not take a firm position on the proposal.
Updating MSPs on the Government’s position, Mr McDonald said: “I can announce today that we will raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility in Scotland from eight to 12 years and we will introduce a Bill in this session to do so.”
Tam Baillie, the Children and Young People’s Commissioner for Scotland, said:”The minister’s announcement today that the age of criminal responsibility is set to rise from eight to 12 years old is the right decision for children and young people in Scotland.
“There is nothing to be gained by criminalising children. Research carried out earlier this year by the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration showed that of the small number of children aged eight to 11 years being referred to the Children’s Reporter on offence grounds, a majority were also referred on care and protection grounds. That is, the children we sought to criminalise were also the ones most in need of our support.
“Today’s announcement marks a significant step forward, but we should be clear that it is only a starting point. Raising the age to 12 means that we now meet the UN’s minimum internationally acceptable age of criminal responsibility. However, if we truly want the best outcomes for children and young people in Scotland, then there is still much work to do.”
Ian Cruickshank, convener of the Law Society of Scotland criminal law committee, said: “Scotland’s age of criminal responsibility, at eight years of age, is the lowest in Europe and we are very pleased to see the Scottish Government intends to raise it to 12 years of age.
“The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has said that setting the age of criminal responsibility below 12 is not ‘internationally acceptable’, and we have argued for several years that a child of eight is too young to be held criminally responsible.
“Raising the age will bring it in line with the existing age of criminal prosecution in Scotland, providing clarity in the law, and will ensure that children are not treated and then labelled as offenders because of things they did when they were under 12 years old.”
