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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the tension between government protestations that youth justice policy is evidence-led and what the evidence implies in the context of the age of criminal responsibility. Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes the form of a conceptual analysis of government policy and the evidence base. Findings – The paper concludes that the current low age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales can be understood as a manifestation of the influence of underclass theory on successive governments. Research limitations/implications – The paper is not based on primary research. Practical implications – The arguments adduced help to explain the reluctance of government to countenance any increase in the age of criminal responsibility. Social implications – The analysis might help inform approaches adopted by youth justice policy makers, practitioners and academics with an interest in seeking a rise in the age of criminal responsibility. Originality/value – The paper offers an original analysis of government intransigence on an important social issue. ; None

This article discusses the role of the media in deliberative systems, focusing on the relationship between the news media and the formal arena that is the Brazilian National Congress. We investigate the different ways in which the news media are appropriated by politicians, experts and ordinary citizens in public hearings. We focus on a case study of public hearings on the reduction of the age of criminal responsibility in Brazil, a controversial issue that has given rise to discussions in different arenas — including such formal ones as the National Congress and such informal ones as social networks and the news media. Our data come from transcripts of public hearings organized by the Brazilian Senate and broadcast on the Senate website and news articles on the issue of criminal responsibility and violence committed by adolescents published during the period of the deliberations. Our findings suggest that people use media materials for different purposes in debates, sometimes to support their own arguments, sometimes to delegitimize alternative opinions. Thus, our results support the idea that the media can function as a connector between different arenas in a deliberative system.

AbstractIn 2021, China amended its law on the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR), lowering the MACR of two specified offences to twelve years. As a result, China now has three different levels of MACR for different offences. Based on the position in China, this article argues that while lowering the MACR against the international trend can be justified as a necessary measure to tackle serious crimes committed by children, creating different levels of MACR based on the types of crime is wrong in principle. This article further considers the classic dilemma in setting an absolute MACR, which results in either freeing the guilty or convicting the innocent. It is argued that setting a relatively low MACR accompanied by robust safeguards of doli incapax, child immaturity defence, diversion and wider sentencing options would allow a better assessment of children's culpability and better serve the interests of justice. It is also suggested that lowering the MACR will not unjustifiably undermine children's rights if the juvenile justice system could ensure only those truly culpable could be convicted and that the option of prosecution is reserved as a last resort.

: Este artículo presenta un estudio comparativo de los contextos y factores que llevaron al resurgir de propuestas de baja de la edad de imputabilidad penal de 18 a 16 años, en Uruguay y en Brasil en el período de 2012 a 2016. Se identifican posibles dinámicas regionales de criminalización de la pobreza y de la juventud tomando como variables de estudio: el aumento de las tasas de encarcelamiento de jóvenes, principalmente, adolescentes y el recrudecimiento penal a través de políticas y legislaciones más punitivas (avance punitivo). Se brinda mayor atención a los aspectos socio-históricos-culturales de esas dinámicas y a las relaciones que se establecen entre política y penalidad en un contexto de hegemonía neoliberal. La pregunta central es ¿por qué se realizan propuestas semejantes para contextos que, aparentemente, son diferentes? Así es que se propone identificar y comprender cómo ocurren esos procesos, las continuidades y discontinuidades con su pasado y comprobar que los mismos no se reducen exclusivamente a dinámicas internas de los "tejidos nacionales" sino que se deben, de cierto modo, a la propia historia y realidad regional. El marco temporal de esta tesis se ubica entre el 2012 y el 2016, tomando como referencia el fuerte (re) inicio del debate en Uruguay a través de la aprobación de realización de un plebiscito constitucional para bajar la edad de imputabilidad, y la re-abertura del proceso en Brasil en el 2015 con una propuesta similar (que sigue en discusión en el parlamento brasileño). ; This article presents a comparative study of the contexts and factors that led to the resurgence of proposals for lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 16 years, in Uruguay and Brazil, in the period from 2012 to 2016. It is possible to identify regional dynamics of criminalization of poverty and youth taking as variables of study: the increase in the rates of youth imprisonment, mainly adolescents, and the criminal upsurge through more punitive policies and legislation (punitive advance). Greater attention is given to the socio-historical-cultural aspects of these dynamics and to the relations established between politics and penalty in a context of neoliberal hegemony. The central matter is: why are similar proposals made for contexts that, apparently, are different? Therefore it is proposed to identify and understand how these processes occur, the continuities and discontinuities with their past, and verify that they are not reduced exclusively to internal dynamics of "national tissues" but are due, in a certain way, to their own history and regional reality. The time frame of this thesis is between 2012 and 2016, taking as a reference the strong (re)start of the debate in Uruguay through the approval of a constitutional plebiscite to lower the age of imputability, and the reopening of the process in Brazil in 2015 with a similar proposal (which is still under discussion in the Brazilian parliament).

Background In many countries, a young person who seeks medical care is not authorised to consent to their own assessment and treatment, yet the same child can be tried for a criminal offence. The absence of child and adolescent mental health legislation in most countries exacerbates the issues young people face in independently accessing mental healthcare. Countries with existing legislation rarely define a minimum age for mental health consent (MAMHC). In stark contrast, nearly all 196 nations studied maintain legislation defining a minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR). Objective This review highlights inconsistent developmental and legal perspectives in defined markers of competency across medical and judicial systems. Methods A review of the MAMHC was performed and compared with MACR for the 52 countries for which policy data could be identified through publicly available sources. Findings Only 18% of countries maintain identifiable mental health policies specific to children's mental health needs. Of those reviewed, only 11 nations maintained a defined MAMHC, with 7 of 11 having a MAMHC 2 years higher than the country's legislated MACR. Conclusions With increasing scientific understanding of the influences on child and adolescent decision making, some investment in the evidence-base and reconciliation of the very different approaches to child and adolescent consent is needed. Clinical implications A more coherent approach to child and adolescent consent across disciplines could help improve the accessibility of services for young people and facilitate mental health professionals and services as well as criminal justice systems deliver optimal care.

Purpose: This article presents the authors' analysis of the problem of determining the subject of a crime as a legal concept, and defining the legal characteristics of a person who has committed a crime by features that are necessary for criminal responsibility (individual, age, and responsibility). Methodology: The present study was based on a dialectic approach to the disclosure of legal phenomena using general scientific and private scientific methods. Considered the Convention on Rights of the Child1989; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights "in 1966; and UN Standard Minimum Rules for Administration of Juvenile Justice. Result: It is noted that the theory of criminal law and criminal legislation of various legal systems, including Russia, associate criminal responsibility with the age of the subject of the crime. Based on the requirements of criminal law, the subject of a crime may not be any imputed person, but only having reached a certain age. Applications: This research can be used for universities and students in law. Novelty/Originality: In this research, the model of establishing age limits of criminal responsibility is presented in a comprehensive and complete manner.