Child s Age of Criminal Liability and Juridical Justice from Islamic Jurisprudence and Law Viewpoint

One of the crucial issues propounded in the field of jurisprudence and law problems concerns children. The age of criminal liability is one of the important issues set forth for discussion. Many of the children reaching the age of religious obligation (puberty) have not reached the required thought and wisdom growth in the field of penal issues. Now, the problem is raised whether the age determined by the Islamic Jurisprudence (Shariah) for the religious obligation can correspond with the same age of criminal liability or it has to be the age of 18 as propounded in international conventions including the Bill of Child Right, and at any case the question is that which age corresponds with legal equity specially the criminal equity. In the penal law, there are important principles which could be considered as constructive of the penal equity. It can be said that executing such principles will realize the legal justice specially the penal equity as the principle of ethical liability based on which, one is liable when being adult, wise and having free agency and being at liberty for his/her actions. Therefore, the child’s criminal liability age is different form his/her religious obligation (puberty) age, and that, in penal liability, in addition to puberty, mental and thought development, i.e. a state of development in which one can fully appreciate penal liability should be considered as well.