Offenders: Age Assurance
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how is the age of an offender determined by the courts; and are any scientific age assessments used.
Answered by Sarah Sackman
Where an offender’s age is in doubt in criminal proceedings, the court must determine age on the basis of the available evidence. In practice, this may include an adjournment so that an age assessment can be carried out.
Where documentary evidence is not available to determine age, guidance as to the assessments to be conducted can be found in the case of R (on the application of B) v Merton LBC [2003] EWHC 1689 (admin). The Crown Prosecution Service provides guidance on Merton-compliant age assessments https://www.cps.gov.uk/prosecution-guidance/children-suspects-and-defendants#_child7. A Merton assessment is a holistic assessment that considers all available evidence and is not based on physical appearance alone.
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