Deliberating the minimum age of criminal responsibility

Abstract

The year 2015 marks 5 years since the implementation of the Child Justice Act No. 75 of 2008 in South Africa (Republic of South Africa, 2008). The Act was the country's first comprehensive legislation aimed at addressing children in conflict with the law. Among other provisions, this legislation raised the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 7 to 10 years, and included a rebuttable presumption of doli incapax (i.e., incapability of formulating criminal intent) for children between the ages of 10-14 years.