In a statement, Commissioner Bruce Adamson said: “The research shows that treating children as criminals does not work. Scotland has recently set the minimal age for criminal responsibility at 12, which is below the international human rights standard of 14. The Scottish Government has convened a forum to discuss raising this beyond 12 but this won’t review the age for at least three years. Setting the age at 12 doesn’t meet the standards of international human rights bodies, who are clear that Scotland must immediately raise its minimum age of criminal responsibility to at least 14.”