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Lowering the age of criminal responsibility
From punishment to problem-solving: A new approach to children in trouble is a report by Rob Allen of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (and formerly of the Youth Justice Board). Using the report Dr Allen argues that the Government needs to take a fresh look at the way in which young people are treated by the criminal justice system, giving greater priority to the underlying family problems that affect young people and less priority to arrests and court sanctions.
Title: From punishment to problem-solving: A new approach to children in trouble
Author: Rob Allen, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies
Series: Whose Justice? series
Number of pages: 36
Date published: September 2006
Availability: Download full report 
PDF 148Kb
Summary
Reforming youth justice was one of New Labour’s top priorities but while some improvements have been made, a fundamental shift is needed in the way we respond
to young people in conflict with the law. A new approach should comprise:
- greater prevention, with an emphasis on addressing the educational and mental health difficulties underlying much offending behaviour
- limits on the way we criminalise young people and a more appropriate system of prosecution and courts
- a wider range of community-based and residential provision for the most challenging young people and a phasing out of prison custody
- new organisational arrangements, with the Children’s Department in the Department for Education and Skills in the lead
Prevention
With the UK at the bottom of the league table of child well-being in the EU, there is a need for much greater investment in mainstream services to support children and their families. There is a particular need to tackle exclusion and truancy, which are associated with offending, and to address the growing incidence of mental health problems.
We need:
- to expand restorative justice programmes in schools and ensure a proper range of provision is available for young people with special educational needs
- a much expanded mental health sector so that needs can be identified early and suitable help provided to young people and their families
Criminalisation
The age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales is lower than most comparable countries and since 1997 there has been a steady increase in the proportion of young offenders prosecuted rather than diverted from prosecution.
- the age of criminal responsibility should be raised to 14 with civil child care proceedings used for children below that age who need compulsory measures of care
- diversion from prosecution should be encouraged, with much more widespread use of restorative conferencing
- specialist prosecutors should be introduced with the aim of actively diverting cases and identifying cases where local authorities should investigate the need for care proceedings. Youth courts should also consider the case for restorative conferencing and have the power to transfer appropriate cases to the family court
Serious and persistent offenders
The use of custody in England and Wales has remained high in international terms, despite attempts to introduce alternatives at the remand and sentencing stage.
Although the Youth Justice Board has aimed to bring coherence to the range of secure establishments, there is still a jumble of responsibilities across government departments.
Prison establishments, in particular, are ill-equipped to meet the complex needs of young offenders. There is a need therefore to:
- find urgent ways of reducing the numbers in custody, for example by making local authorities financially responsible
- introduce a new sentencing framework which includes a new residential training order of up to two years or five years in the case of grave crimes
- give the Youth Justice Board more of a leadership role in respect of the way secure establishments are provided and run, phasing out prison custody for 15- and 16-year-olds and transforming facilities for 17-year-olds. A fundamental review of closed and open residential options available for young offenders should be carried out, with consideration being given to a new youth residential service.
Governance
The key principle for responding to children in conflict with the law is to assist them in growing up into well-adjusted and law-abiding adults. The essential outcomes for children pursued by the Department for Education and Skills – being healthy, staying safe, enjoying and achieving, making a contribution and achieving economic well-being – provide a much more appropriate framework for organising services than does the overarching aim of the Home Office, which is public protection.
There is a case for retaining the Youth Justice Board as a specialist body overseeing youth justice arrangements. It needs to exercise a stronger leadership role in respect of residential institutions, while relinquishing its responsibility for youth crime prevention, which belongs within an integrated framework of children’s services.
- responsibility for youth justice within government should be moved to the Department for Education and Skills
- the Youth Justice Board should be sponsored by the DfES. It should exercise a stronger leadership role in respect of residential institutions and relinquish responsibility for youth crime prevention
Getting a copy
Download From punishment to problem solving: A new approach to children in trouble PDF 148Kb
Last update: Tuesday, September 26, 2006