KEY POINTS:
A bill to allow children as young as 12 to be held criminally responsible for serious crimes is set to fail after the select committee considering it said it should not proceed.
The private member's bill of NZ First MP Ron Mark sought to lower the age at
which children could be held criminally responsible for serious crimes from 14 to 12, arguing that young offenders were becoming increasingly violent. The original bill provided for children as young as 10 to be held accountable, but Mr Mark later agreed to change it to 12.
The bill provided for 12 and 13-year-olds who were charged with serious offences to be dealt with in the Youth Court instead of the Family Court.
The majority report of the law and order committee said it believed work was needed to improve the youth justice system, but the bill's provisions would have severe consequences and effectively strip the Family and Youth courts of much of their jurisdiction.
It said lowering the age at which children could be convicted of serious offences to 12 would also potentially contravene international conventions which New Zealand was a signatory to.
It said definition of a "serious offence" in the bill covered too many crimes and included anything with a prison term of more than three months, or a fine of more than $2000.
However, it said the bill was a chance for the committee to consider the wider look at the youth justice system the evidence it considered would be useful for future initiatives.
In a minority report, NZ First said it was "disappointed" that suggested amendments were not accepted by the committee, and it remained concerned that young offenders were becoming increasingly violent.
The bill was opposed by many submitters, including the Human Rights Commission, the Children's Commissioner and Youth Court principal judge Andrew Becroft, who said it was "abysmally drafted" and did not achieve its stated intent.
The Police Association supported the initiative.
The National Party MPs on the committee opposed the bill going further, but wrote in a minority view that they believed some form of serious intervention was needed.
However, they said submissions made it clear Mr Mark's bill was flawed and "did not achieve these objectives in a coherent way".
National said it also opposed the Government's proposal to raise the upper age of criminal youth responsibility from 17 to 18 years in the Children, Young Persons and Families Act, which is to meet international obligations protecting the rights of youth.
