Member

A further issue, which was memorably raised by the noble Lord, Lord Bailey of Paddington, a fortnight ago and repeated by him today—though I note that he supports the amendment—is that raising the age of criminal responsibility may not be without unwanted consequences. Some countries in which the age of responsibility is higher have found, as has been alluded to by more than one of your Lordships, that unscrupulous criminal gangs are targeting underage children precisely because they know they cannot be prosecuted. As a number of your Lordships have said, for this reason among others, Sweden is proposing to reduce its age of criminal responsibility—I can confirm, in answer to the noble Lord, Lord Marks, that that is from 15 to 13—in response to an increase in gangs recruiting children to commit serious offences. Australia’s Northern Territory recently reduced its age of criminal responsibility from 12 to 10. I make that point to underline how difficult and sensitive this area is.