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Justice Committee 08 September 2015

08 Sep 2015 · S4 · Justice Committee

Item of business

Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

McInnes, Alison LD North East Scotland Watch on SPTV

Amendment 54 would raise the age of criminal responsibility from eight to 12, which would bring it in line with the age of criminal prosecution. That was raised to 12 in 2010 to reflect the extensive body of evidence that children should not come into contact with the justice system at a young age. However, we are left with an anomaly with regard to criminal responsibility. The law is out of touch with our understanding of children’s maturity and their capacity to make decisions and understand the consequences of their actions. Statistics that I have secured from the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration using freedom of information legislation show that around 1,500 children between the age of eight and 11 were referred to children’s panels on offence grounds during the past four years. Almost all of them automatically received a criminal record because they accepted those grounds of referral. The children’s hearings system will no doubt subsequently help most of the children to address their offending behaviour and they will mature into responsible adults. After all, that is what we want to achieve. Surely it is perverse to subsequently further punish and disadvantage them as they move into adult life by branding them as criminals? Their childhood convictions will need to be declared for decades or even the rest of their lives. How can that be right? How can we allow a child’s opportunities to be curbed so severely at such a young age? Handing criminal records to eight or nine-year-olds is a destructive, inappropriate response to their offending. I want the law to change. When very young children display troubling or criminal behaviour it is most often because they are themselves deeply troubled and vulnerable. Many such children will have experienced trauma or neglect or have been victims of abuse. They are first and foremost in need of protection. Scotland has the lowest age of criminal responsibility in Europe—it trails painfully behind international best practice. The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has stated that it expects 12 to be the “absolute minimum” age of criminal responsibility. Tam Baillie, Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People, was right to say that criminalising children as young as eight has “long tarnished” our international reputation. Yesterday, members received a joint letter in support of the amendment from 17 organisations, including Barnardo’s, the Aberlour Child Care Trust, Together Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights, and the Scottish Youth Parliament. The Law Society of Scotland has also backed the amendment. I hope that all members will join me in ensuring that Scotland upholds the human rights of some of the most vulnerable children in our society. I move amendment 54.

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Justice Committee 08 September 2015

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