Children's ombudsman calls to extend youth justice sanctions to adults under 24

In a call echoed by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), Niall Muldoon also recommended increasing the age of criminal responsibility to 14 years.

The ombudsman for children, Dr Niall Muldoon. The Office of the Ombudsman for Children has called to 'extend the principles and sanctions of the youth justice system to apply to young people up to the age of 24'.

A separate facility for the detention of young people between 18 and 24 years old should be considered, according to the Office of the Ombudsman for Children (OCO).

In a submission on the General Scheme of the Children (Amendment) Bill 2024, the ombudsman for children, Niall Muldoon, also recommended increasing the age of criminal responsibility from 12 years to 14 years.

Submissions on the general scheme of the legislation will be considered prior to pre-legislative scrutiny of the bill. The proposed bill seeks to address issues around children and teenagers who “age out” of the criminal justice system during proceedings relating to alleged offences when the accused was underage.

A statement from the OCO said: “In the submission to the committee of justice, home affairs and migration, the OCO recommends a number of provisions which would strengthen the amended act from a children’s rights standpoint. 

"These include raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14 years, introducing a statutory right to integrated and appropriate aftercare for children leaving detention, and an amendment to the new deferred sentence supervision orders designed to reduce recourse to adult imprisonment.” 

Rehabilitation

The OCO added that those between 18 and 24 years of age have a greater capacity for rehabilitation. 

“Research has shown that the brain and personal maturity levels continue to develop well into the mid-20s, with the frontal lobe [a part of the brain responsible for impulse control and decision-making] often the last area of the brain to mature.” 

“As a result of the prevailing research, the OCO would like to echo calls made by the Irish Penal Reform Trust to extend the principles and sanctions of the youth justice system to apply to young people up to the age of 24. 

"Where the decision is made to detain a young person between the ages of 18-24, due consideration should be given to the establishment of a separate facility.” 

Age of criminal responsibility

It added that raising the age of criminal responsibility from 12 to 14 years would be consistent with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. A February 2023 report from the committee raised concerns about the low age of criminal responsibility in Ireland. 

It recommended increasing the minimum age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 years of age while also ensuring children below the age of 18 are not prosecuted as adult offenders, without exception.

The call by the OCO has been echoed by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) in its own submission on the legislation.

“Presently, Section 52 of the Children Act 2001 upholds a general age of criminal responsibility of 12," the ICCL said. 

"Children under 12 cannot be prosecuted except for 10- and 11-year-olds accused of murder, manslaughter, rape, or aggravated sexual assault. 

"Persons under the age of 14 can be charged with an offence and remanded in custody or on bail, but to advance such a prosecution further, approval from the DPP is required.” 

Ireland is an outlier in Europe in relation to the age of criminal responsibility: It is 15 in Iceland, Denmark, Norway, the Czech Republic, and 14 in both Italy and Spain.