Ron Mark's criminal age bill defeated

A bill that would have lowered the age of criminal liability from 14 to 12 was defeated in Parliament last night by 107 votes to 14 on its second reading.

It was a member's bill drafted by New Zealand First MP Ron Mark, and it has been dead in the water since December when a select committee decided it should not be passed.

At age 14 young people can be prosecuted for the full range of offences, and are dealt with in the Youth Court.

Those aged between 10 and 13 are dealt with in the Family Court and are not formally prosecuted.

Mr Mark drafted the bill because he believes there is no way to deal with children who are serious repeat offenders and who take no notice of Family Court proceedings.

But when the committee heard evidence there was strong opposition to it from submitters including Principal Youth Court Judge Andrew Becroft and Children's Commissioner Cindy Kiro.

The committee was told that lowering the age would contravene The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international agreements.

The Police Association and the Sensible Sentencing Trust supported it, and during tonight's debate several MPs praised Mr Mark for raising the problem of young offenders and trying to deal with it.

- NZPA