Move to raise NI minimum criminal age to 14 blocked

Unionist parties at Stormont opposed to raising the age at which a child can be prosecuted for a crime in Northern Ireland have succeeded in using a veto mechanism to block it.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) had tabled a petition of concern, which requires 30 signatures from at least two parties.

The TUV had signed it but it was unclear whether enough Ulster Unionist MLAs would support the petition.

On Monday evening, it was confirmed in the assembly that the petition had passed the threshold after four UUP MLAs signed it - its leader Jon Burrows, Diana Armstrong, Alan Chambers and Robbie Butler.

Sinn Féin, Alliance and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) had proposed raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14.

It was being debated as part of amendments to the Justice Bill going through the assembly.

But on Monday night, after hours of debate, MLAs were told that the threshold had been reached and that there would now be a 14-day "consideration period" before any of the amendments around the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) could be voted on.

The valid petition of concern means any vote on the issue now requires cross-community support from a majority of unionists and nationalists.

Sinn Féin MLAs walked out of the chamber as the debate continued.

Leader of the opposition at stormont, SDLP MLA Matthew O'Toole said the move was an "utter farce".

DUP MLA Paul Givan rejected accusations that unionist parties had "abused" the petition of concern.

Ulster Unionist leader Jon Burrows said the amendments were "flawed" and needed to be fundamentally rewritten and put into separate legislation before he would consider supporting any increase in the age of criminal responsibility.

The joint amendment from Sinn Féin, Alliance and the SDLP proposed a rise in the age from 10 to 14, with "clear exceptions" in the most serious offences like murder, where the age would be 12.

Later in the debate, Sinn Féin MLA Emma Sheerin accused Burrows of allowing himself to be "used as a pawn in the DUP's game".

She said the cross-party amendment from her party, Alliance and the SDLP was "progressive" and had been drawn up on the basis of advice from the United Nations, which previously recommended raising the age.

Burrows replied that he "lived in the real world" and that UN advice "does not cut it with victims".

In a post on social media, Alliance deputy leader Eoin Tennyson described the move as "grubby, stroke politics at its worst".

He added that it was a "further blow to public confidence in the assembly's ability to deliver".

In a statement, People Before Profit's MLA Gerry Carroll said the petition of concern was "weaponised".

"The minimum age of criminal responsibility in the North is just 10 years old - one of the lowest in the world. Kids who are criminalised often come from the most deprived backgrounds, with multiple adverse childhood experiences," he said.

"Exposing them to the criminal justice system does untold harm, and increases the likelihood of reoffending," he added.

The Ten is Too Young coalition said it was "incredibly disappointing" that the proposed amendments to the justice bill "have been scuppered by the use of a Petition of Concern".

"To continue to criminalise children as young as ten is unacceptable," they added.

"Our children deserve a system that recognises their developmental capacity, upholds their rights, and allows them to learn from mistakes without being criminalised."

MACR refers to the minimum age of criminal responsibility.

This is the youngest age at which a person can be arrested and charged with committing a crime.

Ten is one of the lowest ages anywhere in the world.

Like Northern Ireland, it is also 10 in England and Wales.

In Scotland it is 12 - the same as in the Republic of Ireland - but provision has been made for exceptional cases, with criminal responsibility for the most serious offences being set at 10.

The UN body which monitors the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child has urged countries to raise their MACRs to at least 14.

In 2023, the Department of Justice found there was "strong support" for raising the age from 10 to 14.

Previous efforts to examine the legislation failed to attract sufficient political support.