Lowering the Philippines minimum age for criminal liability from 15 to 13

Many organizations, children advocates and the welfare institutions have arisen under the 2016 Philippines Juvenile Act to call for the restoration of justice. According to those who oppose the reduction of criminal liability ages, children might end up being sentenced to death, and further, they are young and sometimes commit crimes because of confusion. Decreasing criminal liability had led to an increased number of children being imprisoned. The 2016 Juvenile Act was developed to clean the penal system and hence lead to the dismissal of more than 1500 cases against the children and further caused more than 500 children to be taken to rehab centers. The aim of the study is to decrease the liability age for criminal prosecution from 15 to 13 to cover the large number of young offenders who goes unpunished in Philippines.

The need to ensure that these groups of young people do not engage in criminal activity had pushed legislators to implement policies that reduce the criminal liability age to cover minors and adults. This is aimed to reduce the increased crime rates in the country. It is therefore calls for a reduction in criminal liability age from 15 to 13 to ensure that the majority of the young children who commit the crime would not go unpunished and to increase adherence to the law. Research questions 1. What is the importance of reducing the Philippines age of criminal prosecution from 15 to 13? 2. The UNCRC of 1989 in the Philippines defines a child a person below the age of eighteen years. The children advocates have been using this policy to call for restorative justice in the criminal justice and called for their exemption in criminal prosecutions.

The UNCRC act article 37 (a) described that minor should be subjected to capital punishment. The development of the New Juvenile Act of 2016 brought in the Philippines was raised to create restorative justice in the system. The aim of the provisions in the act was mainly to protect the minors who are found to be conflicting with the law. Since the creation of the law, many children have shifted from committing crimes and adhered to the country. The rate of crimes had also reduced because the judge had covered a large section of the population. More than four thousand children have been imprisoned since the call to lower the age of criminal prosecution below fifteen years. Several children were later transferred from jails to children homes for rehabilitation (Xinhua News Agency, 44).

I plan to ensure that a new policy is set in the Philippines criminal system to ensure that the minimum criminal liability age is 13 years. Results The findings of the study as described by the United Nation Children's Fund, indicate that more than 4000 children have been imprisoned in the country cells since the application of Castro’s HB 002 law. Various institutions, children advocates and legislators have also risen to oppose the criminal justice system while calling to the restoration of justice. Children have also been imprisoned in the cells even those with minor cases as long as they fell within the brackets of 9 years and above. The 2016 juvenile act led to the dismissal of more than 1500 instances against the minors and sent approximately 500 children to the rehabilitation centers.

The young offenders were dismissed, and their crimes were heard by different bodies and instead of prosecuting them, they are taken to rehab communities to enhance good morals. Groups of people involved in the research are male and females aged below the age of eighteen years. Observation method of data collection had been used in the survey. There is no face to face interaction with the interested groups of people in the study, but secondary sources have been used to reveal the necessary data for the success of this study. The results of the study fit the broader context of criminal justice by indicating the pros and cons that would happen if the liability age is reduced. However, it is necessary for the Philippines government to lower the period of criminal liability to thirteen to cover a broader group of people who are currently involved in the country crime zones.