The Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility in African Legal Systems: a Comparative Analysis

The minimum age of criminal responsibility is the youngest age at which children find themselves mired in the criminal justice system. Prior to the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child debates around fixing a minimum age was successfully side-stepped. The Convention provides human rights for children on a global scale while the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child provide such rights regionally. Contracting States Parties agree that a fixed minimum age should be in place but disagree on what that age should be. In 2007, the debates were laid to rest with the advent of the General Comment No. 10. The international community fixed the minimum age at 12. This has posed a problem for many of the States Parties under study who have a fixed minimum age lower than 12. This book seeks to explore the domestication of international law since the advent of General Comment No. 10 and how it impacts on States Parties national legal systems and minimum age laws. It was written for legal scholars and organisations advocating better rights for children as well as all those interested in improving children's rights on a global scale.