“At 10, our age of criminal responsibility is the lowest in Europe. But can you ever use age to determine maturity?”
The Guardian, 18th March 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
from the Inner Temple Library
“At 10, our age of criminal responsibility is the lowest in Europe. But can you ever use age to determine maturity?”
The Guardian, 18th March 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Children in England understand the difference between right and wrong at age 10, according to the law. Ten years old is also the age of criminal responsibility in Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia, New Zealand.”
Daily Telegraph, 16th March 2011
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Regina v Williams (Jason John) [2010] EWCA Crim 2552; [2010] WLR (D) 274
“As a matter of statutory construction, fault or other blameworthy conduct on the part of the defendant was not required to establish that he was guilty of an offence under s 3ZB of the Road Traffic Act 1988 of causing the death of another person by driving while unlicensed, disqualified or uninsured; and it was sufficient that the driving was a cause of the death, provided that it was a more than negligible or de minimis cause.”
WLR Daily, 3rd November 2010
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
Dorset County Council v House [2010] EWCA Crim 2270; [2010] WLR (D) 253
“Criminal liability under the Cattle Identification Regulations 1998 and the Cattle Database Regulations 1998 was expressly and exclusively defined in terms of a failure to carry out an obligation under Council Regulation (EC) No 820/97, so there was no criminal offence in respect of conduct after 20 July 2000 when Regulation 820/97 was repealed and replaced.”
WLR Daily, 14th October 2010
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
“Martin Narey says children shouldn’t be held legally accountable for actions until they are 12.”
The Observer, 12th September 2010
Source: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/
“The Law Commission’s proposals on regulation are welcome – but no easy alternative to a busybody state.”
The Guardian, 26th August 2010
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“We published a consultation paper on 25 August 2010, in which we have made a number of provisional proposals on criminal liability in regulatory contexts.”
The Law Commission, 25th August 2010
Source: www.lawcom.gov.uk
“The Government has no plans to raise the age of criminal responsibility despite the outcry that followed the conviction of two boys for attempting to rape an eight-year-old girl, justice minister Lord McNally said today.”
The Independent, 10th June 2010
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“The age of criminal responsibility should be raised to 14 to better protect the ‘truly young’, one of the country’s leading barristers has said.”
Daily Telegraph, 7th June 2010
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“The case of the two young boys convicted of attempted rape highlights once more the low age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales.”
Daily Telegraph, 25th May 2010
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Two brothers are among Britain’s youngest convicted criminals to be placed in custody after being detained for a horrific attack on another two boys in Edlington, South Yorkshire, carried out when they were aged just 10 and 11.”
BBC News, 22nd January 2010
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“At present, child defendants are at increased risk of suffering miscarriages of justice because the courts service does not identify their vulnerabilities or ensure they understand their legal rights, the Prison Reform Trust claimed. Given that many child offenders are among ‘the most vulnerable children in society’, they should instead be dealt with through a welfare-based system rather than an adversarial court trial.”
Daily Telegraph, 1st December 2009
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“A sexual assault by a nine-year-old was one of 32 recorded offences involving under 10s last year, a police force revealed today.”
The Independent, 24th August 2009
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“In England and Wales the age of criminal responsiblity is 10 – but should it be raised?”
BBC News, 10th June 2009
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Regina (JS) (Sri Lanka) v Secretary of State for the Home Department
Court of Appeal
“In order to establish that an asylum seeker was liable for a joint criminal enterprise such as to exclude him from the protection of the Geneva Convention as complicit in war crimes or crimes against humanity, there had to have been a common design which amounted to or involved the commission of a crime provided for by statute.”
The Times, 11th May 2009
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
“Why are we asking this now?
Because the former head of the Youth Justice Board, Professor Rod Morgan, has called for the age at which children can be locked up –the so-called age of criminal responsibility – to be raised. The minimum age is currently 10 years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and eight in Scotland. Professor Morgan spoke for many criminologists and penal reformers when he argued that the age should be raised, and voiced concern that nothing would be done.”
The Independent, 5th February 2009
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“A British computer expert hacked into US military networks through ‘naivety’ as a result of his Asperger’s Syndrome and should not be considered a criminal, an expert said today.”
The Independent, 15th January 2009
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“On 15 January 2009 we published our report on ‘Intoxication and Criminal Liability’. Our report addresses the law governing the extent to which a defendant may rely on his or her drunken or otherwise intoxicated state at the time he or she committed a criminal offence to avoid liability. The report focuses on the situation where the defendant was voluntarily intoxicated. However, the report also addresses the more unusual situation where the defendant’s intoxication was involuntary.”
Law Commission, 15th January 2009
Source: www.lawcom.gov.uk
“Children under 14 should not be held criminally responsible and should never be locked up for their crimes, according to a scathing report.”
The Independent, 30th June 2008
Source: www.independent.co.uk
R v Wood [2008] EWCA Crim 1305; [2008] WLR (D) 204
“In addressing a plea of diminished responsibility in the context of alcohol dependency syndrome, the jury must consider whether it had been established that the defendant’s syndrome was of such an extent and nature that it constituted an abnormality of mind induced by disease or illness, and, if that were established, whether the defendant’s mental responsibility for his actions at the time of the killing was substantially impaired as a result of the syndrome.”
WLR Daily, 25th June 2008
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
Regina v W. Stevenson & Sons (a Partnership)
Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)
“Legislation could render a partnership criminally liable as a separate entity from its individual partners. However, confiscation proceedings could not properly be brought against the partners’ personal assets on the basis of the partnership’s conviction.”
The Times, 5th March 2008
Source: www.timesonline.co.uk
Please note the Times Law Reports are only available free on Times Online for 21 days from the date of publication.
R v W Stevenson & Sons (A Partnership) [2008] EWCA Crim 273; WLR (D) 60
“Legislation could render a partnership criminally liable as a separate entity from its individual partners. However, confiscation proceedings could not properly be brought against the personal assets of the partners on the basis of the partnership’s conviction.”
WLR Daily, 26th February 2008
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
“A project to reform the law governing the criminal liability of those who agree to or attempt to commit offences.”
Law Commission, 10th October 2007
Source: www.lawcom.gov.uk
“The age of criminal responsibility should be raised from 10 to as high as 18, a report says today.”
Daily Telegraph, 17th May 2007
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Related link: Debating youth justice: from punishment to problem solving (PDF)