The Law Society of Scotland is calling for the age of criminality in Scotland to be upped from eight to 12 to coincide with UN regulations. 

The professional legal body has backed a move to amend the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill currently going through parliament and stop children under 12 getting a record. Despite some politicians stating that such an amendment would not be appropriate, such a claim has been dismissed by the Law Society.

Concerns Raised Over Scotland’s Age

In an article for The Herald Professor Elaine Sutherland, who sits on the Law Society’s Family Law Committee, stated that she believes it is important that a child’s mistakes did not haunt them later on in life and stated that the current law is a "blot" on the country's record of dealing with young criminals. 

She said: "After a period of time, people are generally freed from having to disclose criminal convictions in job applications and the like.

"However, the Scottish rules on non-disclosure of past offences do not apply in all circumstances and so, for example, reference can be made to them in civil proceedings and disclosure can be required when a person is applying for certain jobs or seeking to enter the legal profession.

"Thus, where a person’s sole criminal act was to shoplift, aged 10, and the matter was dealt with by a children’s hearing, that wrongdoing could follow him or her into adult life.

"The Scottish Government has stated that it does not believe the Criminal Justice Bill is the right place to address this issue and will oppose the amendment.

"However, in my view, there is nothing to lose and everything to gain by supporting Ms McInnes’ amendment."

In Scotland, children can only be prosecuted in court from the age of 12, with the nation having one of the lowest ages of criminality in the world. According to the reports from the Law Society of Scotland the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child have stated that they had concerns over the age of criminal responsibility in Scotland since 1995.

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