400px|thumb|right|Minimum age of criminal responsibility by country
The age of criminal responsibility is the age below which a child is deemed incapable of having committed a criminal offence. In legal terms, it is referred to as a defence/defense of infancy, which is a form of defense known as an excuse so that defendants falling within the definition of an "infant" are excluded from criminal liability for their actions, if at the relevant time, they had not reached an age of criminal responsibility. After reaching the initial age, there may be levels of responsibility dictated by age and the type of offense committed.
Under the English common law the defense of infancy was expressed as a set of presumptions in a doctrine known as doli incapax. A child under the age of seven was presumed incapable of committing a crime. The presumption was conclusive, prohibiting the prosecution from offering evidence that the child had the capacity to appreciate the nature and wrongfulness of what they had done. Children aged 7–13 were presumed incapable of committing a crime but the presumption was rebuttable. The prosecution could overcome the presumption by proving that the child understood what they were doing and that it was wrong. In fact, capacity was a necessary element of the state's case (thus, the rule of sevens doctrine arose). If the state failed to offer sufficient evidence of capacity, the infant was entitled to have the charges dismissed at the close of the state's evidence. Doli incapax was abolished in England and Wales in 1998 for children over the age of 10, but persists in other common law jurisdictions.
Terminology
The terminology regarding such a defense varies by jurisdiction and sphere. "Defense of infancy" is a mainly US term. The "age of criminal responsibility" is used by most European countries, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and other Commonwealth of Nations countries. Other instances of usage have included the terms age of accountability, age of responsibility, and age of liability.
The term minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) is a term commonly used in the literature.
The age of criminal responsibility
Governments enact laws to label certain types of activity as wrongful or illegal. Behavior of a more antisocial nature can be stigmatized in a more positive way to show society's disapproval through the use of the word criminal. In this context, laws tend to use the phrase, "age of criminal responsibility" in two different ways: Hence, no matter what the child may have done, there cannot be a criminal prosecution. However, although no criminal liability is inferred, other aspects of law may be applied. For example, in Nordic countries, an offense by a person under 15 years of age is considered mostly a symptom of problems in child's development. This will cause the social authorities to take appropriate administrative measures to secure the development of the child. Such measures may range from counseling to placement at a special care unit. Being non-judicial, the measures are not dependent on the severity of the offense committed but on the overall circumstances of the child.
The policy of treating minors as incapable of committing crimes does not necessarily reflect modern sensibilities. Thus, if the rationale of the excuse is that children below a certain age lack the capacity to form the mens rea of an offense, this may no longer be a sustainable argument. Indeed, given the different speeds at which people may develop both physically and intellectually, any form of explicit age limit may be arbitrary and irrational. Yet, the sense that children do not deserve to be exposed to criminal punishment in the same way as adults remains strong. Children have not had experience of life, nor do they have the same mental and intellectual capacities as adults. Hence, it might be considered unfair to treat young children in the same way as adults.
In Scotland, the age of criminal responsibility was raised from 8 to 12 by the implementation of the Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Act 2019, which came into force on 31 March 2020. In England and Wales and Northern Ireland, the age of responsibility is 10 years, and in the Netherlands and Canada the age of responsibility is 12 years. Sweden, Finland, and Norway all set the age at 15 years. In the United States, the minimum age for federal crimes is 11 years. State minimums vary, with 24 states having no defined minimum age, and defined minimums ranging from 7 years in Florida to 13 years in Maryland and New Hampshire.
By country
The following are the minimum ages at which people may be charged with a criminal offence in each country:
{| class="sortable wikitable" style="width: 100%;"
!style="width: 16em;"| Country
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!class="unsortable" |
!class="unsortable" | Notes
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| 12
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|
| Minimum age of criminal responsibility is 12. Children aged 7–12 can be subject to warnings, supervision by social services, or confinement to a rehabilitation centre.
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| 14
| 16
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| Article 1 of the Code distinguishes between offences and contraventions. Article 12 mandates that the latter (which are less serious) have a higher age limit of 16.
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| 13
| 18
|
|
|-
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| 12
| 18/21
| ||
|-
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| 14
| ||
| Minimum and maximum sentences are reduced by two thirds between 14 and 16, and half between 16 and 18. The needs of rehabilitation and social reintegration are also to be taken into account for minors.
|-
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| 8
|16
| || According to Articles 1 and 3 of the Juvenile Act, Courts must have regard to the welfare of those under 14.
|-
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| 14
| 18
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| Lowered in February 2026 from 16 to 14.
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| 14
| ||
|
|-
|
|10/12/14
|14/18/21
|
| Age of criminal responsibility in Australia. Review under way since 2019.<br />Rebuttable presumption of incapacity until age 14.
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| 14
| 18/21
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|-
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| 14
| 16
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|-
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|15
|
|
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|-
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| 9
|
|
|16 is the standard age of criminal liability in Belarus. Minors between 14 and 16 years old are responsible only for certain severe crimes, according to article 27 of the Belarusian Criminal Code.
|-
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| 12
| ||
|
|-
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|13
|
|
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|-
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| 10
|
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| Lowered in July 2014 from 16 to 14.
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|14
|
|
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|-
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|8
|
|
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|-
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| 12
| 18
|
| |Full criminal responsibility from age 18, with a juvenile judiciary system for offenders aged between 12 and 18 who can be sentenced to a maximum of 3 years of imprisonment in separate juvenile jails.
|-
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|7
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|
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|-
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|14
|
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|The maximum sentence that can be imposed on juvenile offenders can be no more than 12 years of imprisonment if the offenders are between 16 and 18 and no more than 10 years if they are between 14 and 16. Juvenile offenders serve their sentences in separate prisons up to the age of 18.
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|13
|
|
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|-
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|15
|
|
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|-
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| 14
|
|
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|-
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| 12/14-17
| 14-17/18
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|-
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|16
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|-
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|14
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|-
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| 12
| 16
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| Since 1 March 2021, children between 12 and 14 can be held criminally responsible for intentional homicide or injury leading to death or severe disability committed with extreme cruelty subject to approval by the Supreme People's Procuratorate.