Raise age of criminal responsibility in North, says children's commissioner

The British government was urged today to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility in the North and scrap the use of Asbos for children and young people.

Commissioner for Children and Young People, Patricia Lewsley also called for responsibility for children’s issues to be taken off junior ministers Gerry Kelly and Jeffrey Donaldson and given to a senior minister.

In a detailed and wide ranging report reviewing children’s human rights the commissioner concluded they were breached in the North, with the worst affected those from deprived backgrounds.

There was a “life chance lottery” with too many children having their lives determined at birth, she said.

Ms Lewsley called for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) to be enshrined in law as a minimum.

And she said while there had been progress on the issue of children and young people’s rights “the continued failure of the government to make real all the promises contained within the UNCRC, for all our children and young people, is a matter of ongoing concern.

“I urge ministers and government departments to consider, and act where needed, on the findings of this review and to implement immediate and determined action to prioritise the rights and the best interests of children and young people across all aspects of legislation, policy and practice.”

The report made no recommendation on what the minimum age of criminal responsibility should be raised to, other than it should be “in line with international best practice”.

However it pointed out that while it was 10 in the North it was 12 in Greece and the Netherlands, 13 in France, 14 in Austria, Germany and Italy, 15 in the Scandinavian countries, 16 in Portugal and Spain and 18 in Belgium and Luxembourg.

Calling for the scrapping of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders for children and young people, the report urged its replacement with “more appropriate responses” that addressed the root causes of the behaviour and did not blur the boundaries between civil and criminal law.

It also urged there be no use of Tasers or plastic bullets in situations where children or young people could be harmed – unless concrete evidence existed to disprove current concerns that the young may be disproportionately impacted by their use.

Ms Lewsley said children and young people were subject to a life chance lottery and while some had many positive experiences growing up in the North, for others the story was different – and for some groups the inequalities were stark.

“From higher infant mortality rates among those living in deprived areas, through to teenage pregnancy rates that are more than double those in non-deprived areas, too many children’s journey through life are being compromised,” said the commissioner.

Children had told her their opportunities were being stifled, and the report’s research showed that in a harsh glare.

“It is obviously not right that 20% of our P7 children have literacy skills below basic accepted standards, but it is happening today in Northern Ireland.”

She added: “I am very concerned that so many children and young people are not enjoying their rights in terms of their education, their health care and protection from harm.

“We have a situation where every part of a child’s life can be affected. That can be a disabled child or a child living in a rural area having no real opportunities for play or things to do. It can be the fact that infant mortality rates amongst traveller children are ten times higher than other groups.

It is the fact that too many children have their life chances determined at birth.“