SMH: When is a child responsible for a crime? Not everyone likes the answer

The NSW Government’s new laws to make it easier to find children criminally responsible for their actions are aimed at redressing a decade-long problem, but have met resistance from the opposition and legal groups.

Attorney-General Michael Daley on Tuesday announced laws to give prosecutors more ways to argue against doli incapax – a legal principle that assumes children aged 10 to 13 cannot be found criminally liable for their offending because they are too young to know their actions were seriously wrong.

The Justice and Equity Centre argued the laws would result in more children in prison.

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