Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility
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In Northern Ireland, children can be held criminally responsible for offending behaviour from the age of 10. This is called the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility, or MACR for short.
Below this age, a child cannot be prosecuted or held liable for any criminal acts; above this age, they can face the full force of the law, including being held in custody.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that the MACR for Member States should be at least 14 years of age and preferably higher. This would require the support of MLAs to enable a change in legislation.
In October 2022, the Department held a public consultation to hear views on the proposal that the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility in Northern Ireland should be raised from the current age of 10 years to 14 years, to comply with this recommendation.
Public Consultation on MACR
- Press Release
- MACR consultation document Microsoft Word (262 KB)
- Youth friendly version Adobe PDF (319 KB)
- Consultation response template Microsoft Word (112 KB)
- Rural needs impact assessment Microsoft Word (706 KB)
- Equality screening form Microsoft Word (133 KB)
Summary of Responses
Following the public consultation, a summary of responses was developed to set out the views received: