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How far are children criminally liable?

Blackstone had once thoughtfully said,        

“Infancy is a defect of understanding and infants under the age of discretion ought not to be punished by any criminal prosecution whatsoever.”

To adopt the above statement legally, the law makers made various provisions. Section 82 and 83 of the Indian Penal Code gives immunity from criminal liability to children up to the age of 12 years. However, the age discretion differs from country to country.

For illustration: In Argentina a minor under the age of 16 years  is exempted from criminal responsibility and in France a child under the age of 13 is not punishable, while in Denmark and Sweden the age bar is set at 15 years.[i]

Indian Penal Code’s-

Ø  Section 82: Act of a child under seven years of age.— Nothing is an offence which is done by a child under seven years of age.

Children below 7 years under this section are termed as Doli Incapax and get complete immunity from criminal liability due to general proposition that an infant below a certain age is incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong and so no criminal responsibility should be hooked for his/her deeds.

Children under this age cannot form necessary intention to constitute a crime.

In Marsh v. Loader, (1863) 14 CBNS 535, a child was caught stealing a piece of wood from the premises of the defendant but was discharged on the basis that he was under 7 years of age. [ii]

Ø  Section 83: Act of a child above seven and under twelve of immature understanding.— Nothing is an offence which is done by a child above seven years of age and under twelve, who has not attained sufficient maturity of understanding to judge of the nature and consequences of his conduct on that occasion.

Whilst this section of the code gives qualified immunity from criminal responsibility for children from 7 to 12 years of the age, the immunity conferred depends on their maturity of understanding during the commission of the crime. The maturity of his understanding can be inferred from the nature of the act, subsequent conducts and behavior.

 

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Edited by @ Vasu Gupta


[i] Law Commission of India, 42nd Report, 1971, P.87-89


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