Victim Support NI is the leading independent charity supporting victims and witnesses of crime in Northern Ireland. It goes without saying that in all our policy considerations we must think of the victims first.
So, for us, the question becomes – do victims of crime think that the age of criminal responsibility in Northern Ireland should be raised?
Victims are not a homogenous group – in fact the only common thing they share is their experience of crime. They are individuals. Each will have their own thoughts and opinions about the crime they experience. Each will also have their own unique reaction to the impact of crime, and it might not be what you might expect.
So when we talk about an issue like the minimum age of criminal responsibility, we accept that not all victims will feel the same way about this issue. Without asking every person who experiences crime what they think on this particular issue, we can’t know the exact statistical data on which way they lean. What we can say as an organisation with a history of over 40 years of supporting people who experience crime is that many times, we are told that they don’t want anyone else to go through what they have. That is why we campaign for a society in which the commission of crime is significantly reduced meaning that fewer citizens become victims of crime in the first place. We recognise the harm caused by crime to the victims, we also accept that the harm caused by crime extends also to the offenders and their families.
For this reason, we support the DOJ’s existing proposal to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility from the current age of 10 to at least a minimum age of 14. This proposal is in line with Northern Ireland’s human rights requirements under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
To those who argue that if you’re old enough to commit the crime, you’re old enough to face the punishment – we know that custodial sentences do not reduce the rates of future offending. In fact, 30% of children treated this way will re-offend within a year. So why would we put children into an environment where they will network with and learn from older offenders? It should also be pointed out that many children who offend have been victims of neglect, abuse or other Adverse Childhood Experiences. This not their fault. As children, they have no agency to change their circumstances. Science has shown us that younger children do not have the same mental capacity to understand the consequences of their actions as adults. It can be argued that criminal behaviour in children is the consequence of a complete failure to safeguard them and give them a good start in life. The building blocks of good behaviour are warm and loving relationships, educational inclusion and protection from poverty. We need a whole system approach which invests in early years and brings together health, education and economic policy.
If we look at countries which have successfully reduced rates of youth offending, like Norway, Finland and The Netherlands, there is strong evidence to show that a welfare-based alternative approach to children who commit criminal acts can reduce the risk of that child re-offending much more effectively than placing them in the criminal justice system. In Norway, the country with the lowest rates of child and youth recidivism, 90% of children who offend do not reoffend. This is due to an approach which does not criminalise any child under 15 and has an emphasis on re-education and reintegration into society.
This is not a get-out clause for young people who go out and willingly break the law. All actions have consequences, but instead of locking these children up and throwing away the proverbial key we need to replace existing criminal justice sanctions with strong, rehabilitative, welfare-based structures that disrupt the path to reoffending. Within this structure, we can also identify WHY young people are offending and work on measures to address these.
Within this framework it is paramount that those who experience crime are an integral part of its development. Their voice must also be included and recognised – victim-led restorative practice is key to helping victims recover from the impact of crime, and ensures that young offenders understand the real impact of their actions on others. Instead of failing our children we should concentrate on teaching them how to be moral, principled members of society. We cannot and should not let them fall through the cracks.
This kind of change is difficult, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. We have seen in other countries that it can be done and with great success. With the correct marketing and educational messaging in place, everyone could learn to see the benefits of a new approach to child offenders. Working with them in a holistic and rehabilitative way is good for everyone – it is financially efficient when compared with expensive and ineffective custodial sentences, it will reduce future offending and create fewer victims and has the added benefit of working towards a more inclusive and caring society.
Victim Support NI is the leading independent charity supporting victims and witnesses of all crime types in Northern Ireland, whether or not the crime has been reported to police and no matter how long ago the crime occurred.
You can find more information on our website .