ABSTRACT
This chapter will explore the use of age in the criminal law. In particular, the age of criminal responsibility and the age at which a ‘victim’ can consent to behaviour which would otherwise be criminal law and so remove blame of the defendant within criminal law. The chapter will note that in English criminal law these are often different age. The age of criminal responsibility is 10, while, generally speaking, the ‘age of consent’ is 16. The chapter will explore how and why different ages may be appropriate for allocating criminal responsibility and enabling a person to relieve a defendant of criminal liability through consent. While both may be seen to be linked in that they are tied to the notion of capacity, it will be argued there the use of age in allocating criminal responsibility and use of age in determining whether someone is sufficiently responsible to be able to give legally effective consent are very different questions. The law, therefore, quite legitimately can have notably different ages of consent and ages of criminal responsibility.
