KIDS DON'T BELONG IN CRIMINAL COURT

Justice Minister's Plan To Make 10-Year-Olds Face The Justice System
Is Unsupported By Evidence

Maybe federal Justice Minister Vic Toews was having a bad day. That
would be a charitable explanation for the suggestion that 10-year-old
children should end up in the criminal justice system, an idea that
Toews floated on Monday.

Except that Toews made the comments in a formal speech to the
Canadian Bar Association. And although the justice minister now says
he never meant that children should be locked up, he didn't rule out
that option when reporters initially pressed him for details.

Under Canadian law children can't be criminals until they're 12. We
have decided that younger children may do bad things, but they aren't
capable of formulating the intent that is required to be convicted of a crime.

More practically, we recognize that the criminal justice system is
entirely unequipped to deal with young children. That's why provinces
all have child protection systems, like B.C.'s Ministry of Children
and Families.

Toews says 10-year-olds are being lured into crime and no one is
intervening. "In most provinces, in fact, the child-welfare system is
allowing criminal conduct to continue among those types of children,"
he said. "They're being used by gangs and drug couriers to do
break-and-enters, there are other kinds of very serious crimes, so by
the time they're 12, they're already criminals."

If that's true, it's a problem. But Toews offered no evidence for his
claims. It's not an issue that's been raised by police, social
agencies -- or anyone.

Even if the problem did exist, the solution would not be to thrust
children into a justice system that has no way to handle them. If
Toews has evidence that provinces are failing to deal with young
children who commit serious crimes, he should share it. The public
will demand improvements.

The old Reform party wanted the age of legal responsibility lowered
to 10, arguing children should be accountable in the criminal justice
system for their crimes. The Conservatives seemingly abandoned that
campaign -- at least till Monday.

Canadians have decided that young children are best helped outside
the criminal-justice system. Toews has not substantiated his claim
that the current system is not working. He shouldn't be surprised at
the reaction to such a bad idea.