At what age does a badly behaved child become a young criminal?

Each time a young child is convicted of a serious crime, attention inevitably turns to the age of criminal responsibility and the sensitive question of how society determines when it should begin criminalising its young offenders. Since 1963, the age of criminal responsibility in England has been 10 – an increase from the previous age of seven which, at the time, was the lowest in Europe. England's age remains on the low side. Switzerland, which holds children culpable at seven, and Scotland, which does at eight, are the only European countries with lower ages. Calls to raise the age have intensified recently, since renewed controversy this year surrounding the killers of Jamie Bulger, and last week the conviction of boys aged 10 and 11 for attempted rape. Many campaigners argue that children under the age of 12 cannot understand wrongdoing and should not face prosecution. In March, the children's commissioner for England, Maggie Atkinson, said that children below the age of 12 should not be treated as criminals. Others call for the age of criminal responsibility to be 14 – the age in many other European countries. So far the government has not indicated any willingness to change the age of criminal responsibility in England. "The government believes that children are old enough to differentiate between bad behaviour and serious wrong-doing at age 10," a Ministry of Justice spokesman said. "[This] allows frontline services to intervene early and robustly, preventing further offending and helping young people develop a sense of personal responsibility for their behaviour. "In practice, the majority of young people are not prosecuted in court and there are rehabilitative processes in place, which include interventions to tackle offending behaviour and underlying problems." Although that view is unlikely to satisfy children's groups, the question of age is one aspect of a broader set of demands for changes to the way the criminal justice system deals with children. Other issues include whether holding trials in open court with media and public spectators is an appropriate environment for young offenders; and the questioning of child witnesses in court. Last week the Ministry of Justice said it would look again at whether the process could be made less intimidating for children. "We will certainly be reviewing to what extent this has been successful as we continue to extend fair and accessible justice," a spokesman said. That pledge comes as a report is expected this summer by the Independent Commission on Youth Crime, which will examine the impact of the court environment and questioning techniques. It is expected to recommend more informal settings for trials involving children, in a move away from the adult courts. The question of sentencing for young offenders is also likely to remain in the spotlight, although it is not yet clear whether the government will reform penalties for children who fall within the age of criminal responsibility. In March, the Youth Justice Board published data showing that 10- and 11-year olds were punished for more than 6,000 offences last year, more than 70% of which were non-violent. Those figures have prompted children's campaigners to argue that the youngest children should be removed from the criminal justice system altogether, and dealt with through intensive supervision in a non-custodial environment, rather than through detention and punishment.