Murder-charge law ‘hasty’

Press, 14 December 1977, Page 4

Murder-charge law ‘hasty’

■ Legislation to allow children between the ages of 10 and 14 to be charged with I murder or manslaughter ■would be “hasty and illI conceived,” the chairman of I the Legal Association (Mr A. |C. Hughes-Johnson) said. Mr Hughes-Johnson said I the association was concerned iwith the provision in the .Children and Young PerIsons Amendment Bill, which I would allow such a change in i the law. ' “Under the new amendment, an isolated act of negligence causing death can form the basis of liability for manslaughter and yet a (child committing multiple 'robberies would escape prosecution,” he said. In the. context of a young! (offender, the robberies might: often be considered more! ! serious by the public, he said. ! He could see no justification, j for changing the law in an,' arbitrary manner to permitl

criminal liability for some offences and not’others. The association felt that murder offences should be treated with the utmost seriousness, but that the issue of child liability deserved careful consideration. The issue of child liability should not be confused with the question of how child offenders were to be dealt with. “The way in which the present amendment has been drafted can only give rise to the conclusion that insufficient consideration has been given to its purpose and form,” said Mr HughesJohnson. He said that the association would not necessarily accept an amendment that covered other offences together with murder and manslaughter. “The whole question of whether a child should be liable requires further consideration,” he said.