CRIM 3657 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Mens Rea
20 Sep 2017
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Juvenile delinquency act: before that the society had no concept of childhood and there was no separation between the youth and adults. The evolution of the society and the evolution of the jda run parallel. Children in the society had to work to provide for their families and they were representing a big portion of the labour because they accepted to work for cheaper wages. The criminal law still dealt with youths differently because of the mens rea (guilty mind, intention). There was a differentiation for children based on 3 ranges: at 7 the child couldn"t have possibly committed the crime with the differentiate between what"s right and what"s wrong. intent due to the lack of mental capacity. Between 7 and 14 some capacity to understand the difference. Over 14 you have the mental capacity to. If a child was found guilty they would be treated like an adult.
