§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT the minimum age of criminal responsibility as it applies in each of the nine members of the European Community, in Norway and Sweden.
§ Mr. Alexander W. LyonThe age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales is the age—10 years—under which there is an irrebuttable presumption that a child cannot be guilty of a criminal offence. Between 10 and 14 the presumption is rebuttable. It is distinct from the minimum age of prosecution—also 10 years at present, but variable to 12 or 14 by order—which denotes the liability to be prosecuted and found guilty in criminal proceedings, including criminal proceedings in the juvenile court. In many countries the concept is different, and it signifies the age at which a person becomes liable to the "ordinary" or "full" penalties of the law. The table below shows the minimum age at which, I understand, a person becomes liable to these ordinary or full penalties. Caution is obivously needed in comparing different systems.
Belgium 16 Denmark 15 France 14 Federal Republic of Germany 14 Republic of Ireland 7 Italy 14 Luxembourg 18 Netherlands 12 Norway 15 Sweden 15 England and Wales 17
§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he 332W has to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 years to 11 or 12 years under the provisions of Section 4 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1969.
§ Mr. Alexander W. LyonThere is no statutory provision which enables the age of criminal responsibility to be raised above 10. My right hon. Friend, together with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services and my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Wales, will consider among other matters arising from the operation of the Children and Young Persons Act 1969 whether the minimum age of prosecution should be raised.