Raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility in Kenya

Abstract

This paper investigates why and how Kenya reviewed its minimum age of
criminal responsibility while enacting the Children Act of 2022. The Act
creates a range; a lower level of the minimum age of criminal responsibility
of 12 years and a higher level of 14 years. In the preceding regime of laws, the
minimum age for criminal responsibility was 8 and 12 years, respectively.
The paper interrogates how Kenya arrived at the ages of 12 and 14. In doing
so, the paper will examine the foundations of the minimum age of criminal
responsibility and some of the international legal instruments affecting the
minimum age of criminal responsibility.