The Children’s and Young Persons Act 1933 raised the age of criminal responsibility from 7 to 8 and it has remained as law in Scotland ever since.
However, in May 2019 the Scottish Parliament passed a law setting the minimum age of criminal responsibility at 12, 2 years lower than the age the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child deems acceptable.
The Scottish Government still hasn’t set a firm date for this law to be implemented. Currently Scotland still has the lowest minimum age of criminal responsibility in Europe— at just 8 years old. More broadly it also remains one of the lowest in the world.
Scotland aspires to be one of the best places in the world for a child to grow up, as evidenced in the 'getting it right for every child,' (GIRFEC) policy framework (2006). In particular it states that children 'require joined-up working - it is about children, young people, parents, and the services they need working together in a coordinated way to meet the specific needs and improve their wellbeing.' A minimum age of criminal responsibility of anything less than a minimum of age 14 is wholly incompatible and at odds with these stated policy aims.
If politicians are intent on closing the attainment gap, and building trust between government stakeholders, local authorities, and children, then the minimum age of criminal responsibility must be contextualized and embedded in a wide number of drivers of change.
While children, teachers, and schools are striving hard to achieve the admirable aims embedded in the Curriculum for Excellence, then it logically follows that the Scottish Government should demonstrate strong positive leadership on minimum age of criminal responsibility.
The Children's and Young Persons Commissioner Scotland has stated, 'In choosing to restrict its work on this issue to raising the age to 12, the Scottish Government has created a situation where it now lacks the confidence that systems are in place to allow us to meet the international minimum standard of 14.'
'This failure demands urgent action.'
'12 and 13-year-old children should not need to wait a period of years before the Scottish Government meets its minimum obligations in terms of their rights.'
The international human rights community’s message is also extremely clear: the minimum acceptable age of criminal responsibility is 14, and that any age below that cannot be justified in human rights terms.
Overall this is a wholly unacceptable situation for children in Scotland, and it needs to be addressed, as a matter of parliamentary urgency in national debate that involves children and parents as priority stakeholders.