MURDER AND CHILDREN UNDER THE LAW

A four years old child accidentally killed an 11 Months old baby by putting the child in a plastic container and covered it with clothes. The baby died of suffocation. what a sad news...........CULLED FROM LINDA'S BLOG.                     

Whether the 4 years old is liable for the offence he confessed to: The general rule is that stay away from crime every person shall be liable for an offence willingly committed, the fact that they are blood related is irrelevant, there is no excuse for committing crime. Crimes are committed against the state and not individuals, therefore the family has no say in whether to prosecute or not.

ii.                   Whether a juvenile can be imprisoned: the juvenile court is established under the Children and Young Persons Laws of various states of the federation. They have jurisdiction to try all offenders who are young persons. Young offenders are persons under the age of 18years.for criminal offences children below the age of 7 years are not criminally liable; children between 7 and 12 years are only criminally liable for the offence committed if they are found to know the implication of the offence committed. Children between age 12 and 14years are criminally liable for an act an omission which constitutes an offence.

iii.                  A young persons (14 but below the age of 18 years) are criminally responsible for their acts or omissions.

Please note by virtue of section 8(2) of the Children and Young Person Law, the trial of a young person by the juvenile court where the penalty for the offence is death is prohibited by the CYPL. In both instances ,the trial shall take place in the regular court, where the penalty is death the juvenile court shall conduct preliminary inquiry but cannot proceed to trial of the offence where the case is established.    

These are the features of a juvenile court; these courts are not open to the general public except officers of the court, parties to the proceedings, their legal representatives, and accredited members of the press. It also prohibits the publication and disclosure of the identity of the child.

A juvenile if found guilty cannot be  sentenced or convicted instead a ‘finding of guilty’ shall be recorded and shall not be imprisoned they are suitably dealt with in any other authorized manner such as recognizance of good behavior, probation, fine, or committed to an appropriate institution or remand home.

iv.                Whether the 4 years old boy is still a juvenile.

A juvenile is anybody below the age of 18 years at the time the crime was committed. Therefore the a 4 years old cannot be convicted of murder .

Thank you

Oyenike Alliyu-Adebiyi LLB(h) BL