Children's Rights and the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility: A Global Perspective - Hardcover

Cipriani, Don

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0754677303 ISBN 13: 9780754677307

Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, 2009

Synopsis

Children of almost any age can break the law, but at what age should children first face the possibility of criminal responsibility for their alleged crimes? This work is the first global analysis of national minimum ages of criminal responsibility (MACRs), the international legal obligations that surround them, and the principal considerations for establishing and implementing respective age limits. Taking an international children's rights approach, with a rich theoretical framework and the vitality of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, this work maintains a critical perspective, such as in challenging the assumptions of many children's rights scholars and advocates. Compiling the age limits and statutory sources for all countries, this book explains the broad historical origins behind most of them, identifying the recurring practical challenges that affect every country and providing the first comprehensive evidence that a general principle of international law requires all nations, regardless of their treaty ratifications, to establish respective minimum age limits.

About this title

About the Author

Don Cipriani (Ph.D. in Law, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) has researched and written frequently about children’s rights, juvenile justice, and criminal responsibility for UNICEF and international NGOs in Europe and Asia. In particular, he was the author of a draft General Comment on the minimum age of criminal responsibility for the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Edition details

• Publisher: Ashgate Publishing
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0754677303
• ISBN 13: 9780754677307
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240