RAISING the age of criminal responsibility requires “a great deal of thought”, the Children’s Minister has said.
Constable Richard Vibert said the issue would be referenced within the Youth Justice Strategy, which is due to be published early next year.
“Changes to the age of criminal responsibility are more complex than simply changing the age in the law.
“Guidance from the Attorney General provides safeguards against the criminalisation of children, but we cannot safely raise the age of responsibility without answering the fundamental question of how we deal with children under the age of 14 who appear to have committed a criminal offence,” he told States Members recently.
Children in Jersey can be held criminally responsible from the age of ten – but the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child recommends that criminal responsibility should start at the age of 14.
Mr Vibert added that currently, it was “very unlikely” for children under the age of 15 to be charged, and that the upcoming strategy would consider early intervention aimed at stopping children from coming into contact with the criminal justice system.
Raising the age of criminal responsibility “needs a great deal of thought”, he stressed.
The upcoming strategy was due to be published in April this year, but Mr Vibert was only given responsibility for it “in the last ten days”, he said.
“In fact, I think the fact that I have been given responsibility is to actually bring the Youth Justice Strategy to the fore and to ensure that it is delivered within this government.”
A recent ministerial decision showed that Mr Vibert was given delegated responsibility for the Youth Justice policy on 12 November.
At this stage, he added, he did not know whether raising the age of criminal responsibility would form part of the strategy.
