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Should We Lower The Age of The Criminal Responsibility?

UNICEF opposes proposals to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility in the Philippines below 15 years old. Lowering the age goes against child rights and there is lack of evidence it will reduce crime. Children who commit crimes are often victims of circumstance due to poverty and exploitation by adults. Developing brains of children mean they cannot understand consequences and need rehabilitation, not punishment that could ruin their lives. Branding young children as criminals fails to hold accountable adults responsible for children's protection and well-being.

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78 views2 pages

Should We Lower The Age of The Criminal Responsibility?

UNICEF opposes proposals to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility in the Philippines below 15 years old. Lowering the age goes against child rights and there is lack of evidence it will reduce crime. Children who commit crimes are often victims of circumstance due to poverty and exploitation by adults. Developing brains of children mean they cannot understand consequences and need rehabilitation, not punishment that could ruin their lives. Branding young children as criminals fails to hold accountable adults responsible for children's protection and well-being.

Uploaded by

Junick Flores
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Should we lower the age of the criminal responsibility?

Introduction:

MANILA, 18 January 2019 – UNICEF is deeply concerned about ongoing efforts in

Congress to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility in the Philippines below

15 years of age. The proposed lowering vary from 9 and 12 years, and goes against the

letter and spirit of child rights. There is a lack of evidence and data that children are

responsible for the increase in crime rates committed in the Philippines. Lowering the

age of criminal responsibility will not deter adult offenders from abusing children to

commit crimes.

Counter Argument:

UNICEF supports the Philippine government, as a signatory to the United Nations

Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), to ensure that children grow up in a

safe environment protected from crime and violence. Sadly, lowering the age of criminal

responsibility is an act of violence against children. Children in conflict with the law are

already victims of circumstance, mostly because of poverty and exploitation by adult

crime syndicates. Children who are exploited and driven by adults to commit crimes

need to be protected, not further penalized. Instead they should be given a second

chance to reform and to rehabilitate. Scientific studies show that brain function reaches

maturity only at around 16 years old, affecting children’s reasoning and impulse control.

Argument:

Proposals to lower the age of criminal responsibility argue that children as young as 9

years old are criminally mature and are already capable of discernment. If this was the

case, then why is the legal age to enter marriage, legal contracts and employment in the
Philippines at 18 years old? A 9-year old child has not yet even reached the age of

puberty and their brains are not developed to understand the consequences of actions.

The current proposal is to delay sentence up to a maximum age of 25 years. If a child is

jailed at 9 years old it means that they may have to waste away their life for 17 years

under imprisonment until they can get a sentence for the crime committed. There is no

mechanism to protect these children from cohabiting with hardened criminals and no

guarantee that in detention they will be protected from violence and exploitation in jail.

Detaining children will not teach them accountability for their actions.

Conclusion:

Branding children as criminals removes accountability from adults who are responsible

for safeguarding them. If children who have been exploited by criminal syndicates are

penalized instead of the adults who abused them, we fail to uphold the rights and well-

being of children. If we fail to understand the underlying reasons how and why children

commit crimes, we as adults, fail our children.

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