AT WHAT age should children be held criminally liable for their actions? It depends where they live. In England and Wales, children under 10 are not considered capable of committing a crime and cannot be tried, no matter what they might have done. In Scotland the age is 8, though it will soon to be raised to 12. Some US states consider 7-year-olds to be criminally responsible, others set a minimum age of 15. In Belgium, the cut-off point is 18.
The age of criminal responsibility is quite literally all over the place. So what are we to make of claims that a 5-minute brain scan can determine a child鈥檚 level of brain development, and hence whether they are mature enough to understand the consequences of their actions?
Given the seemingly random nature of the age of responsibility, the idea has some appeal. Nobody wants to see child criminals who knew what they were doing get off because they are below some arbitrary age. Nor should children being tried for acts that they don鈥檛 understand are wrong.
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Yet on closer examination it raises myriad problems. Neuroscience has discovered much about brain development, but as yet no studies have looked into the relationship between brain development and behaviour. So it鈥檚 not yet clear how to convert developmental maturity into a measure of behavioural maturity.
And that is not all. Many legal scholars regard neuroscience with suspicion because it diminishes individual responsibility 鈥� the 鈥渕y brain made me do it鈥� defence. The prospect of lawyers trying to dazzle juries with brain scans 鈥減roving鈥� that their client isn鈥檛 mature enough to face charges is not an appealing one.
鈥淢any legal scholars regard neuroscience with suspicion because it diminishes responsibility鈥�
Indeed, in the US defence lawyers have successfully argued that their young clients are still developing mentally and hence can鈥檛 be held responsible for their actions.
What the research does do is highlight the arbitrary nature of the age of criminal responsibility, and the absurdity of setting a cut-off point. If it leads to a more nuanced understanding of brain maturity that can be factored into the legal system, justice will have been served.