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Published Date: 23 November 2008
WELCOME to Scotland on Sunday's online feature, Question of the Week.
Each week we ask the readers of scotlandonsunday.com for their views on a burning issue from the past seven days.

The best responses may be reproduced on the Online Forum page in Sunday's print edition of the newspaper on November 30th.

If you wish to appear in Scotland on Sunday, then, along with your response, please leave a first name and surname, as well as your location - eg Tom Smith, Edinburgh. We welcome all comments.

The question this week is...

Should the age at which children can be held criminally responsible be raised from eight, as the Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini has urged?



The full article contains 119 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 27 November 2008 12:12 AM
  • Source: Scotland On Sunday
  • Location: Scotland
  • Related Topics: Legal Issues
 
1

Tomdonald,

27/11/2008 07:24:55
No. The problem lies with the inadequacy of the parents, but even so "criminalisation" is not the answer. The old adage used to be "spare the rod snd spoil the child". In my day fathers used "Toby Tickles" when necessary, teachers used a tawse. I am afraid such measures will have to return.
2

G.Nicholas,

Thailand 27/11/2008 12:29:38
What one must consider is the not the age of the individual but what they have absorbed from society and how that has affected their behaviour.

Digital children do not acquire information, process it, express their findings like of previous generations.

Video games, television horrors the list is endless not to mention the graphics in papers.

The parents are responsible for those in their care until they come of age, which differs in this multi-cultural society from 16-21.

Fixing an age is not the answer,the real answer is to provide adequate filters in the childs brain and love and care for the child that is yours.

Criminilisation will create it's own serious issues in the natural development of the child.

Monsters created are done not on purpose but by negligence of all of us.
3

Helter Skelter,

28/11/2008 11:05:38
We should bin the whole idea of a fixed age.

The question of crminal responsibility should be done on a case by case basis....at 8 , some children know the score and some don't.

If criminal proceedings are taken against an 8 year old, there should be a preliminary hearing purely on the question of criminal responsibility.

The defence lawyers can wheel in a couple of child psychologists to say the child doesn't have criminal reponsibility and the prosecution can get the opportunity to cross-examine them with the help of its own experts.

The judge can then make a finding on whether the child has criminal responsibility.

It should start on a presumption that by age 8 the child is criminally responsible and the burden of proof lies on the defence to rebut it.

Appeal should not be restricted to a point of law, but enable appelants to have the whole matter looked at afresh by the appeal court.

There yi go Elish hen, ah've sorted it fur yi.
4

Morry,

Highlands 28/11/2008 21:18:51
It should start with parents, taking resonsibility for their offspring, with children at school to be taught right from wrong, displine should be shared equally between the parents and teachers,
children be allowed to be just that instead of parents and others continually trying to mould small adults,

The gov.dots should look again at the incompetent teachers, social workers, college drop out wanna be somethings, throw out the lot, and start over.

Not every child is mini adult physcopath, criminal behaviour is something learned, they are not born as baby nutters,

 

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