10 января 2018 года Комиссар направила письмо в Комитет по вопросам равенства и прав человека шотландского парламента относительно законопроекта о возрасте уголовной ответственности (Шотландия). В своем письме Комиссар предоставила разъяснения Комитету о высказанном ранее призыве к шотландскому правительству повысить возраст наступления уголовной ответственности как минимум до 14 лет, но предпочтительно еще выше, в сравнении с предложнным правительством возрастом в 12 лет.
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In her letter the Commissioner noted that, despite the specific features of the Scottish system of dealing with children who come into conflict with the law, international human rights standards on the age of criminal responsibility are developed to provide minimum safeguards regardless of member states’ diversity of laws, policies and practices. She also noted that setting an appropriately high age of criminal responsibility would have important implications for the protection of the rights of children who come into conflict with the law, even if few are prosecuted in courts in Scotland.
Setting the age of criminal responsibility at 14 as an absolute minimum, but with a higher age being preferable, “would exclude a larger group of children from being dealt with as offenders in the Scottish system”, said the Commissioner. This, she added, would “help further strengthen the system’s focus on protecting vulnerable children who engage in harmful behavior.”