Justice begins by recognising that children experience the world differently—and the law should too. In May, the government published its youth justice system reform and delivery plan, ‘Cutting youth crime, changing young lives’. The plan committed to ‘carefully consider’ the Bar Council’s work reviewing ‘whether the age of criminal responsibility remains appropriate’.
As the new chair of the Bar Council this year, I set out a series of priorities for 2026, including a focus on children in the justice system. I established a working group with experts from the fields of neuroscience, law, psychiatry and psychology. Collectively we reviewed the current age threshold and concluded that 10 years’ old is too young. We recommend that the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) should change from age 10 to 14.
Ancient principles
The responsibility for determining the minimum age at which a child
