Papers mentioned in the Age of Criminal Responsibility Advisory Group minutes: FOI release

Information requested

All papers mentioned in the following board minutes:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/age-of-criminal-responsibility-advisory-group-minutes-march-2024/

Response

Some of the information you requested is available from the links below:

Note of Advisory Group Meeting from 29 November 2023 - Age of Criminal Responsibility Advisory Group minutes: November 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Age of Criminal Responsibility Learning Event report – January 2024 - The Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Act 2019 Learning Event – 30 January 2024 Report on Key Findings - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance exemption under section 29 (1)(a) of FOISA applies to some of the information you have requested. The exemption applies to the following papers referenced within the note due to the formulation or development of government policy. This information is for consideration or development of options and priorities for Scottish Ministers, who will subsequently determine which of these should be translated into political action and/or legislation and when.

Children and Young people’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) Data paper 2024 - The paper provides an overall summary of the data on non-court disposals, court proceedings and convictions across all ages and Age of Criminal Responsibility groupings for the most recent year available.

Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) Data paper 2024 – SCRA were asked to profile children referred to children’s hearings on offence grounds over the past few years by whether the behaviour in the offence is likely to come within the parameters of the test in section 39 of the Age of Criminal Responsibility Act.

The Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) 2019 Act is currently 2-years and 8 months into a 3-year review period assessing the current operation and implications of the legislation. The ACR Advisory Group was established to assist Scottish Ministers with the review. The Advisory Group is chaired by The Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise and meets on a quarterly basis. The Advisory Group is supported by four subgroups who are working to gather findings to form part of the review, the subgroups each have a specific focus; community confidence, operational implications, victim support and, data and research.

The documents listed above are for the work being taken forward by the Advisory Group and subgroups to review the Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) 2019 Act and are not currently in the public domain.

The Advisory Group must report to Scottish Ministers with the findings of the review by December 2024. Scottish Ministers must then report on the findings and any decision that will support any future age of criminal responsibility, by December 2025. The papers above will be reported to the Scottish Parliament in December 2025 to support the findings and decisions made by Scottish Ministers.

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FOI 202400423640 - Information released - Annex

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