Age of criminal responsibility

Doli incapax was abolished in England and Wales in 1998 for children over the age of 10,[3][4] but persists in other common law jurisdictions.

[12][7] The rationale behind the age of accountability laws are the same as those behind the insanity defense, insinuating both the mentally disabled and the young lack apprehension.

In this context, laws tend to use the phrase, "age of criminal responsibility" in two different ways:[14] This is an aspect of the public policy of parens patriae.

In the criminal law, each state will consider the nature of its own society and the available evidence of the age at which antisocial behaviors begins to manifest itself.

Some societies will have qualities of indulgence toward the young and inexperienced, and will not wish them to be exposed to the criminal law system before all other avenues of response have been exhausted.

Hence, some states have a policy of doli incapax (i.e. incapable of wrong) and exclude liability for all acts and omissions that would otherwise have been criminal after reaching a specified age.

Thus, if the rationale of the excuse is that children below a certain age lack the capacity to form the mens rea of an offense, this may no longer be a sustainable argument.

Indeed, given the different speeds at which people may develop both physically and intellectually, any form of explicit age limit may be arbitrary and irrational.

[citation needed] Some jurisdictions do not have a set fixed minimum age, but leave discretion to prosecutors to argue or the judges to rule on whether the child or adolescent ("juvenile") defendant understood that what was being done was wrong.

Full adult criminal responsibility in terms of sentencing and conviction annullement eligibility at age 18 (21 in Victoria).

If convicted in a juvenile court, the offender is found "responsible" for their actions as opposed to "guilty" of a criminal offense.