At what age are you accountable for your actions

[Empired]

I think an appropriate age when one should be accountable is 16.

At Law School this semester we did a lot of work with restorative justice methods and from what I have seen with young offenders especially 10 and below is that they don't have a proper grasp on society and how things work because of their lack of education, abusive parents, or just third party influences which they can't handle properly and it modifies their perception.

Sure most 10 year olds would fully understand what right and wrong is but a lot of children don't have the benefit and accessibility we take for granted to basic educational necessity. I think in this Venables situation there needs to be an assessment made by professionals as to the mental state of the individual. I don't think they should be held accountable after they have served their time, but if they reoffend then they should be held accountable.

If you're saying what I think you're saying then this is a good idea. Are you talking about how in circumstances like this each child should be assessed individually rather than there just being a law that says "everyone over 12 should know better!!!!"? That's definitely a much better idea because there are all sorts of factors to take into account.

[Daltron]

If you're saying what I think you're saying then this is a good idea. Are you talking about how in circumstances like this each child should be assessed individually rather than there just being a law that says "everyone over 12 should know better!!!!"? That's definitely a much better idea because there are all sorts of factors to take into account.

I'm saying I think 16 would be an appropriate age to be held fully accountable, anything below that should be a case by case basis for individual assessment as you have mentioned! I do agree that 12 is probably a little young to create strict liability without assessment based on their age/ upbringing/ responsiveness to right and wrong.