Should we lower the age of criminal responsibility to 12?

Editor's note: During two sessions,30 NPC deputies put forward a joint proposal on the Law on the Protection of Minors, suggesting that the age of criminal responsibility be lowered from 14 to 12. China’s criminal code at present holds that no child under the age of 14 can be held criminally liable – should we change that? Forum readers share their opinions.

mbursian (US)

Children should not be exempt from being criminally responsible, particularly for violent crimes.

In the US the minimum age of criminal liability is set at the federal and state level. At state level 33 set no minimum age of criminal responsibility, theoretically allowing a child to be sentenced to criminal penalties at any age. Of the states that do set a minimum age of criminal responsibility, North Carolina has the lowest at seven years old, while Wisconsin has the highest at ten years old.