Dictionary of Youth Justice

The British youth justice system used to be seen as being riddled with paradox, irony and contradiction, and childhood was seen as the most intensively governed sector of personal existence. In fact, there is great variation in the age of criminal responsibility between youth justice systems across Europe and elsewhere in the world. In Scotland the age of criminal responsibility is eight; in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Australia it is ten; in New Zealand, Germany, Italy, Spain and Japan it is 14; in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden it is 15; and in Belgium and Luxembourg it is...