Baroness Chakrabarti
Main Page: Baroness Chakrabarti (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Chakrabarti's debates with the Ministry of Justice
Age of Criminal Responsibility
Baroness Chakrabarti Excerpts(1 day, 10 hours ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Baroness Chakrabarti
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Baroness Levitt) (Lab)
My Lords, the Government want to prevent children who have committed crime from re-offending and to help them lead happy, useful and productive lives. Setting the age of criminal responsibility at 10 allows the justice system to intervene early with some children, which can help to prevent future crimes. Children are treated differently in that they are dealt with by youth courts and given different sentences from adult offenders.
Baroness Chakrabarti (Lab)
I am grateful, as always, to my noble friend, but wonder whether the child welfare system would not be more appropriate than the justice system for 10 year-olds. How does the Government’s position square with international comparators, UN advice, modern neuroscience and humane values?