Crispin Blunt MP
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
Ministry of Justice
102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ

28 July 2011

Dear Crispin,

I am writing further to your answer to my parliamentary question on the age of criminal responsibility in England. A copy of the Hansard record of the answer is printed below for ease of reference:

Criminal Responsibility
Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will make it his policy to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14; and if he will make a statement. [66497]
20 July 2011 : Column 1108W
Mr Blunt: The Government have no plans to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14.

I was disappointed at the brevity of your reply and the lack of a statement on your reasons for not accepting the need for the age of criminal responsibility to be raised to 14.

As you may be aware, England's age of criminal responsibility is one of the lowest in the western world. It is a matter of serious concern that the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act abolished the principle of doli incapax, whereby the prosecution had to prove that a child under 14 appearing in the criminal court knew and fully understood what he or she was doing was seriously wrong. If a prosecution cannot prove this, surely the rights of the children concerned are being breached.

It is often the case that children caught up in criminal behaviour will have been severely let down by the adults responsible for them and it cannot be just or fair to hold these children criminally responsible. What such children need is dedicated and consistent help and support to address the causes of their actions.

As well as being unjust, criminalising children as young as 10 is ineffective. Evidence shows that an introduction to the criminal justice system at such a young age is likely to lead to further offences. One third of children under 15 in custody were 10 or 11 when first convicted. Though the youth custody population has been dropping, three quarters of under-18s released from custody are reconvicted within a year .

Charities who work with vulnerable young children, like Barnardos, believe that the age of criminal responsibility in England is too low, as does the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child .

I hope that you will reconsider this issue, both in terms of raising the age of criminal responsibility and as a ‘stepping stone' the option of re-instating the principle of doli incapax.

I should be grateful for your response to the points raised in this letter.

Yours sincerely,

Caroline Lucas, MP, Brighton Pavilion