![]() ![]() In Britain the decision as to whether a case goes to trial has traditionally been made by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Who, except in cases of murder, in Britain at least, is either granted bail or held in detention. Judicial procedure in any country is bound by its own firmly established rules, but however and wherever a trial finally takes place, it is preceded by a police investigation and the arrest of a suspect, Mary Flora Bell and Norma Joyce Bell uniquely highlighted the problems ofÄoli incapax and of trying young children in adult courts, but there was never any doubt that it would take place. The I998 act has abolished even this safeguard, and anyone ten or over is considered to have the same moral awareness of right and wrong as his or her elders. The prosecution had to prove that the child not only had carried out the alleged acts but knew at the time that what ![]() Incapable of criminal intent, and this presumption had to be rebutted before a child could be convicted. ![]() Children between ten and thirteen, however, until the passage of the Law and Disorder Act in 1998, were presumed in law to be doli incapax, The age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales is ten years old (eight in Scotland). Why Children Kill: The Story of Mary Bell ![]()
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