UUP MLAs face choice over Doug Beattie's proposal on child criminals - which prompted rows with Jon Burrows
Doug Beattie may have left the UUP but a controversial proposal which put Jon Burrows at odds with his MLA team remains on the table – with the party’s Stormont group potentially facing a choice over who they are going to back.
The party leader backs keeping the current minimum age of criminal responsibility at 10 – but Mr Beattie, his former justice spokesperson, tabled an amendment to raise it to 12.
While some UUP MLAs may favour 14, 12 was seen as an achievable compromise in light of Sinn Fein, the SDLP and Alliance broadly backing the higher threshold.
It is understood Mr Beattie was ordered by the leader to remove the amendment to Naomi Long’s justice bill, but pressed ahead.
The DUP has attempted to use a petition of concern to force a cross-community vote on the issue, but it is unclear whether the UUP will lend the support necessary for it to pass.
That would mean a raise to 14 would need the support of both unionists and nationalists to become law, regardless of the majority view of MLAs. The matter is likely to be voted on next week.
Changing the age to 14 is supported by the Justice Minister Naomi Long and her party. They cite the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s recommendation that the minimum age for criminal responsibility (MACR) should be at least 14 years of age and preferably higher.
In October 2022, the Department of Justice held a public consultation to hear views on the proposal that the age should be raised to comply with this recommendation.
Such a change is opposed by the DUP and TUV – as well as the UUP leadership.
With Mr Beattie now out of the party, and his proposal still on the table, UUP MLAs will have to decide whether to back their leader – or stick to the option preferred by most of them and vote for 12.
Given the strong defence of 14 by Alliance and Sinn Fein MLAs, and the DUP and TUV’s insistence in 10, it currently appears unlikely to succeed.
The children’s commissioner has stood by his position that no child under 16 should be prosecuted for serious crimes like rape and murder and says there must be a “robust response” when children cause “serious harm”