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Kids Law
This is a podcast about children and the laws that affect them as they grow up. Alma-Constance, our host, decided to start the podcast in 2021, when she turned 10 years old. Living in England, UK, she discovered that at 10 years old she would have reached the age of criminal responsibility. This is one of the youngest ages of criminalising children in the developed world. That was a pretty shocking discovery for her especially as she realised that she and her peers knew nothing about what this meant in practice and how it can affected children and their families. With the help of Lucinda Acland, a lawyer, and supported by Next 100 Years, they set out to ask some questions of leading experts to help children make sense of it all. There are a lot of laws that affect #children as they grow up and they are confusing and complicated and can affect all aspects of their day-to-day life from #education to online protections or at home, if families break up. It is difficult to keep track and understand the laws and how they impact a child's life. Alma-Constance is determined to help #TeachKidsLaw at a much younger age to help them grow up into adults confident with their legal knowledge. Understanding how the law works and being able to understand complex concepts of #justice and #ruleoflaw will help anyone as they try to navigate their lives. You can email us: kidslaw@spark21.org or reach us on social media channels and our www.kidslaw.info website.
Kids Law
Did you know that ten year old children can treated as criminals in this country?
That's right... the age of criminal responsibility for children in England & Wales is only 10 years old! This is the lowest age in Europe and one of the lowest worldwide. Alma- Constance and Lucinda talk to Kirsty Brimelow KC, an expert in international human rights, public and criminal law and recently elected Vice Chair of the Bar Council for 2025. She explained:
- How the law of criminal responsibility has come about
- The sorts of crimes that children are charged with
- The impact on the lives of children who are put into the criminal justice system
- The attempts to raise the age of criminal responsibility
- About the countries which are seen as effective examples in how they approach juvenile justice
- The role international organisations play in seeking to raise the age
When Kirsty was eight she was inspired to think about the importance of fairness and justice in everyday life.
References and Resources
Kids Law Episode Sir Max Hill KC, 'Can you really become a criminal at 10?'when he was the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Kids Law episode Why are Children’s Rights in Scotland the Strongest in the UK? With Bruce Adamson,when he was the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland.
Kirsty Brimelow KC Kids Law episode 'Do witches really exist and how do lawyers get involved?'
Age of criminal responsibility
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8565619.stm?utm_source=chatgpt.com https://archive.crin.org/en/home/ages.html https://www.unicef.org/eca/reports/systematic-responses-children-under-minimum-age-criminal-responsibility
https://www.unicef.org/lac/media/2771/file/PDF%20Minimum%20age%20for%20criminal%20responsibility.pdf
If you've got any questions, ideas about a topic or someone to interview, get in touch, we'd love to hear from you!! You can email us at kidslaw@spark21.org, contact us through the website: www.kidslaw.info or through social media: Facebook, X and Instagram @KidsLawInfo
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See you soon in the next episode!
