How Should the Criminal Law Respond to the ‘Special Status’ of Children?

Abstract

This chapter argues the case for reform to three areas of the substantive criminal law: the age of criminal responsibility, fitness to plead as applied to children, and the creation of a defence of developmental immaturity. It is argued that these are three key areas where the law does not reflect appropriately the special status of children and their immaturity. In doing so, it takes a multi-disciplinary approach, drawing upon liberal theories of responsibility as well as, for example, findings from neuroscience and child development studies, international conventions and the law in other jurisdictions.