Were Jamie Bulger’s killers too young at 10 years to fully understand what they did? Maggie Atkinson, the Children’s Commissioner of England, believes they were and has called for the age of criminal responsibility to be set at 12 rather than 10. Her words – expressed in an interview with The Times at the weekend – come during a particularly difficult time for the family of Jamie Bulger, as Jon Venables has been in the news recently, once again stirring up deep feelings. Indeed Jamie’s mother has called on Atkinson to resign for making what she refers to as insensitive remarks. We can understand a mother’s anguish but we should also look beyond the one case and consider seriously Atkinson’s call.

At 10 years in England and Wales, the age of criminal responsibility is one of the lowest in Europe. In Scotland they are raising it to 12 from 8. It was raised from 8 in England and Wales in 1963 – but the law presumed that anyone younger than 14 years did not know the difference between ‘right and wrong’. In the late 90s this distinction was dropped thus, making primary school children on a par with fully matured adults where criminal responsibility is concerned. Is this right?

In no other sphere of life can a 10 year old be considered on a par with adults. They cannot be in full time employment; cannot join the armed forces; cannot vote; cannot marry and so on. And surely no one would call for changes in any of these areas. Children at primary school would not be considered mature enough to take any of the above responsibilities. So why do we differentiate when it comes to criminal acts? Of course we understand that a child is capable of carrying out an act that is contrary to law and that those acts can be brutal in the extreme. But can we be sure that they fully understood – in a way that we would expect a mature adult to understand – what they were doing and what the consequences would be?

Other European countries have their minimum age higher – some far higher – than ours: it is 12 in the Netherlands, 13 in France, 14 in Germany, 15 in Sweden and Italy, 16 in Spain and 18 in Belgium. Surely it is time to look again at our own policy.

What do you think?