'World horrified' at criminal age

The lord advocate has called for a debate on the age cut-off

The world is "horrified" that children in Scotland can be held criminally responsible at the age of eight, the Scots children's commissioner has said.

Kathleen Marshall told BBC Scotland the age needed to be raised.

Her comments came after Scotland's top prosecutor Elish Angiolini said the age was "extremely low".

But Tory MSP Bill Aitken, convener of the Holyrood's Justice Committee, said there may be exceptional cases where such an age was needed.

The age of criminal responsibility is 10 in England and as high as 15 in Scandinavian countries.

Ms Angiolini, Scotland's lord advocate, told MSPs recently that the issue needed considerable consideration by Scotland's parliament.

We are not confronted with the situation of hundreds of eight-year-olds being taken away in handcuffs Bill Aitken Scottish Parliament Justice Committee

Ms Marshall told BBC Scotland's Politics Show that Scotland could be a "much more caring, responsible and sensible society" if the issue was addressed.

"The fact that our age is eight, it shames us internationally, absolutely needlessly," she said.

"The international community is horrified at our age of criminal responsibility."

Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesman Robert Brown - a former lawyer - has lodged a motion at Holyrood branding the current age "highly inappropriate" and calling on the Scottish Government to consult on raising it.

But Mr Aitken said many youngsters up to the age of 16 in Scotland were dealt with by the children's hearing system, in a non-punitive way.

And he said there may be cases, such as children who commit murder, where a lower age was needed to allow the option of a court prosecution.

The Conservative MSP said: "We are not confronted with the situation of hundreds of eight-year-olds being taken away in handcuffs. It just doesn't happen. So why change the law?"

Mr Aitken added: "I'm all for being caring and sensitive, but I think my caring and sensitivity is more directed towards the potential victims rather than the perpetrators."

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