ABSTRACT
The 1908 Children Act, which introduced the idea of a separate juvenile court jurisdiction, occupies a landmark position in the history of child-law in this country. Historically, common law had acknowledged the special status of children before the courts in two ways. To begin with, the law had simply intervened in the affairs of employers and parents by creating criminal offences out of behavior thought damaging to children. There were no offences specific to children and it was the job of the police to enforce the criminal law and to bring the culprits to book regardless of age, beyond the minimum age of responsibility. Criminal law is more interested in particular acts than in people. It defines crimes in precise detail and permits consideration of personal elements to enter only at the sentencing stage. But before the law could be implemented the political process intervened with a change of government in 1970.
