各国刑事责任年龄的比较

Comparison of the age of criminal responsibility in different countries

Generally, people in China can be held criminally responsible from the age of 16, but children can be held criminally responsible for intentional homicide, intentionally hurting another person so as to cause serious injury of death, rape, robbery, drug-trafficking, arson, explosion or poisoning from the age of 14. [Criminal Law of the People's republic of China, Article 17]

Section 16 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1963 states that the age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales is currently set at 10 years old. This means that any boy or girl aged 10 years or older can be held criminally responsible for any crimes that they commit.

In Israel,no person can be held criminally responsible for an act committed while under the age of 12. [Penal Law of Israel-626/1996, Section 34F]

In Canada，no person can be convicted of an offence in respect of an act or omission committed while under the age of 12. [Criminal Code, Section 13]

In USA, the minimum age of criminal liability is set at the federal and state level in the United States. At the state level, 33 states set no minimum age of criminal responsibility, theoretically allowing a child to be sentenced to criminal penalties at any age [Cipriani,D. Children's Rights and the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility: A Global Perspective, Ashgate 2009, p. 221 and 222], though in most of these states a capacity related test is applied.Of the States that do set a minimum age of criminal responsibility, North Carolina has the lowest at seven years, while Wisconsin has the highest at ten years. [For full references of state laws see the National Center for Juvenile Justice.]

各国刑事责任年龄的比较

一般来说，在中国，年满16岁起可以追究刑事责任，但14岁起，未成年人因故意杀人、故意伤害他人致人重伤、强奸、抢劫、贩卖毒品、放火、爆炸、投毒等，应当追究刑事责任（参照《中华人民共和国刑法》第17条。

1963年《儿童和青年法》第16条规定，英格兰和威尔士的刑事责任年龄目前定为10岁。这意味着,任何10岁或10岁以上的男孩或女孩都要对他们犯下的罪行承担刑事责任。

在以色列，任何人不得对12岁以下的行为承担刑事责任，这就是说，年满12岁应当承担责任责任。[以色列刑法-626/1996，第34F节]

在加拿大， 12岁以下不能定罪量刑。[刑法第13条]

在美国，最低刑事责任年龄是在联邦和州一级确定的。在州一级，33个州没有规定最低刑事责任年龄，理论上允许儿童在任何年龄被判处刑事处罚。 在确定了最低刑事责任年龄的州中，北卡罗来纳州的最低刑事责任年龄为7岁，而威斯康星州的最高刑事责任年龄为10岁。[有关州法律的完整参考资料，请参阅国家少年司法中心。