The latest brainchild of national police chief Pol Gen Torsak Sukvimol's on lowering the minimum age for criminal responsibility does not bode well for children's rights. While countries around the world, including those in Asean, have tried to improve the rights of children and show leniency to young offenders, the national police chief's idea will move the country in the opposite direction.
Pol Gen Torsak reportedly plans to discuss with related government bodies the possibility of lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 12 years old. Under the present law, children under 15 can only be reprimanded and then freed.
The suggestion follows the public prosecutors' decision on Dec 27 to reject a police investigation into October's Siam Paragon shooting that involved a 14-year-old suspect. The Office of the Attorney General reasoned that the police report failed to provide a clear mental health assessment of the teenager. A subsequent assessment from designated psychiatrists at the Galya Rajanagarindra Institute indicated the suspect could not understand the charges, communicate or control his emotions. Needless to say, the state attorney's decision enraged those who wished to see the 14-year-old suspect put on trial sooner instead of waiting until after he had received treatment and he could face charges and stand trial -- sometime before the statute of limitation expires in the next 20 years.
Pol Gen Torsak admitted that many may disagree with the decision. "People who never experience such a loss will fully understand the need for an updated law."
No matter what the reasons are, the solution cannot and will not reduce youth crime.
Make no mistake, criminals -- regardless of age, must face legal consequences. The 14-year-old suspect must be put on trial, but only after designated psychiatrists approve the move. This protocol has been applied to all suspects with mental problems, and it should not be revised simply because this particular case has drawn national and global attention. After all, as many criminologists and child psychiatrists have warned, the police must not and cannot mix the separate issues of mental illness and criminality with the debate around what should be considered the legal age of responsibility.
Instead of stricter legal penalties, the government should work harder to eliminate factors that contribute towards young people having the motivation and means to commit serious crimes.
For instance, the government should eradicate the six million illegal firearms estimated to be in circulation, in addition to being smarter in their interactions with youngsters on social media, where expertise is needed to engage with them rather than the voice of authority they go online to tune out from. They must also make schools safer places and rid them of bullying and violence of any kind against pupils.
Needless to say, the police must also work harder to eradicate narcotics while the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security must do more work to make sure all children are raised in safe environments.
There are many where successive governments have failed our youth. The tougher penalties suggested by the national police chief are just another poorly thought-through, off-the-cuff reaction to a high-profile story. All it serves to achieve is temporarily sate a public desire for vengeance and give the impression that the police are taking action.
The truth is that getting tougher on teenage offenders is unlikely to reduce underage criminal behaviour any time soon.