MINIMUM AGE FOR CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY IN NIGERIA AND THE IMPLICATIONS OF SECTION 1(2)(A) OF VIOLENCE AGAINST PERSONS (PROHIBITION) ACT 2015

Abstract

A person’s mental fitness and ability to understand his1 conduct at the time he is committing a crime is what is referred to as criminal responsibility. Where this ability is lacking, and where the law makes exemption, there is no criminal responsibility. Before the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act (VAPPA) 2015 came into force, under the Nigerian criminal justice system, a child under the ages of 7 is not capable of committing crime and a child below the age of 12 is not criminally responsible for an act or omission, unless it is proved that at the time of doing the act or making the omission he had capacity to know that he ought not to do the act or make the omission. A male person under the age of twelve years is presumed to be incapable of having carnal knowledge. Nonetheless, in 2015 the VAPPA came into force with a provision under its section 1(2) (a) that a person convicted of rape under subsection (1) of section 1 of the Act is liable to imprisonment for life except – “Where the offender is less than 14 years of age, the offender is liable to a maximum of 14 years imprisonment.” The question is, what is the implication of the above VAPPA provision on the minimum age immunity principle under the Nigerian criminal justice system? Furthermore, is the VAPPA inconsistent with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999(Fourth Alteration), and does it override the Criminal Code, Penal Codes, Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 or the Childs’ Right Act 2003 on the minimum age immunity principle by so providing? This article aims at examining the legal implications of section 1(2)(a) of the VAPP Act 2015. The research adopts entirely a doctrinal approach.