Age of Criminal Responsibility

Lord Meston Excerpts

Wednesday 21st January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Levitt (Lab)]

With the greatest respect to my noble friend, that is quite a lot of questions in one. I can confirm that the UK complies with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Making international comparisons in this area can be imprecise, and some of our international partners are lowering their age of criminal responsibility. For example, Sweden is proposing to reduce its from 15 in response to an increase in gangs recruiting children to commit serious offences precisely because they know they cannot be prosecuted. We make every effort to keep children out of the criminal justice system unless it is absolutely unavoidable.

[Lord Meston (CB)]

My Lords, have the Government made any assessment of the carefully considered change enacted in Scotland in 2019, when the minimum age was raised to 12 with the intention of protecting younger children from earlier criminalisation and exposure to the criminal justice system? Does the Scottish experience not increase confidence for similar reform in England and Wales?

[Baroness Levitt (Lab)]

My Lords, there are certain cases where the offending is so serious that a criminal justice response is required. For example, everybody in your Lordships’ House will remember the case of the killing of James Bulger, in which two 10 year-olds were involved. The important thing is that every effort is made to keep children out of the criminal justice system unless it is absolutely necessary to monitor them and to contain them in the public interest.