Are you old enough to know what’s right and wrong?
The law says that children under the age of 10 years cannot
commit crimes. It is felt that on the whole, children under 10 are too
young to weigh up what is right and wrong and to deliberately break
the law. When very young children get into serious trouble, or they have
problems, social workers often try to help them and their families
but if children are out of control, a youth court can have them taken
into care.

When children reach the age of 10 then they can be arrested and
charged with crimes and taken to court in the same way as adults
can but from the age of 10-17 young people appear in the youth court.

What happens when someone gets into trouble. Let’s follow these
two young people and find out.

The Law

Criminal responsibility

Helplines