With two 10 year old boys convicted of attempted rape at the Old Bailey earlier this week, we need to seriously consider what age should we hold children criminally responsible.

This is by no means an easy question to answer. At what point do we throw away our paternalistic tendencies and say you need to be punished for your actions?

Dr Maggie Atkinson, the new Children’s Commissioner has made her opinion clear. ‘The age of Criminal responsibility in this country is 10 – that’s too low, it should certainly be moved up to 12; in some European Countries it’s 14’

With the increase in young offender crimes in the last decade, Parliament has had plenty of opportunity to show us that the age of Criminal responsibility is likely to stay where it is. This view has been reiterated by the Ministry of Justice which stated ‘We believe that children 10 and over can differentiate between bad behaviour and serious wrong doing. We do not intend to raise the age of criminal responsibly. It is not in the interest of justice, victims, or the young people themselves, to prevent serious offending being challenged.’

This seems pretty set in stone. As a nation we appear to consider that 10 year olds should be held liable for their actions. But, should the debate on the age of Criminal Responsibility be regarded separately to how and where the young offender should be tried.

On the one hand we are saying that 10 year olds should be held liable for their actions as they are old enough to realise right from wrong, but on the other, we try these young offenders under informal settings so as not to be to intimidating.

This was certainly the case in the Old Bailey for the last couple of months whilst it heard the trial of two 10 year old boys charged with the rape of an 8 year old girl. Although the case was heard in front of a judge and full jury, the two young defendants we able to sit next to their mothers in the well of the court rather than the docks, and neither were called to give evidence.

Michele Elliot, director of the children’s charity Kidscape, commented: ‘Their young age and the young age of their victim makes it absurd that this took place in an adversarial court situation. It reflects horribly on our whole system.’

However, Alison Saunders, the Chief Crown Prosecutor for the CPS London summed up the moral rationale as she saw it behind prosecuting the case in the way it was, ‘The allegations made by the young girl were very serious. She has the same right to the protection of the law as an adult and that was why, after very careful consideration of all the evidence, the case was put before a jury.’

It seems there really is no clear view as to whether young offenders should be tried and if so by what method. We can all think of how innocent we were when we were 10, but times have changed along with offenders.

Antonia Torr is a graduate from the University of Leicester, with a degree in Law with European Union Law. Having enjoyed writing from a young age, Antonia has received numerous awards that act as a testament to her quality of writing. To find out more about our Free Solicitors Consultation, Why not pop in to a QualitySolicitors Branch today, or visit our website at http://www.qualitysolicitors.com to find your nearest branch and claim your Free Consultation.