Juvenile Criminal Responsibility, Liability to the Death Penalty and Essay

Juvenile Criminal Responsibility, Liability to the Death Penalty and the age of majority in Saudi Arabia - Essay Example Moreover the research also looks into debates for and against capital punishments along withy voices from human rights organizations. Capital punishment to juveniles is deplorable because according to social activists and psychologists, juveniles are not in a frame of mind to understand properly the seriousness of crime during the time of its occurrence therefore; giving capital punishment is not justified. Juvenile delinquency is a broad based term that is given to juveniles who commit crimes. In many legal systems, the term juveniles are defined by different legal systems around the world in relation to age. However the age to attain majority is different in different countries. For major crimes the court may decide whether the person should be treated as an adult or a child (Christensen .2010). Saudi Arabia has the distinction of having a tough law irrespective of child or adult. It has also a dubious record of executing juveniles. In the international arena, juvenile death penalt y is prohibited. Moreover the convention of the rights of the child, in which Saudi Arabia is a member, prohibits capital punishment to individuals under the age of eighteen. In Saudi Arabia, there is no codified penal law establishing the acts that constitutes criminal offences. It also does not have published official information’s and interpretations of shariya law. Judges enjoy the discretion to decide and interpret shariya percepts in criminal cases. Moreover the court has also discretionary power to impose death penalty as a discretionary punishment for other acts as well if it feels to be criminal. In November 2008, the shura council which is an appointed authority in the parliament passed a measure to increase the general age of attaining majority from fifteen to eighteen. This measure was undertaken due to opposition from various quarters including international human rights groups. (Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan: End Juvenile Death Penalty. 2010). Death penalty to j uveniles was in the hot seat of debate for some time now. Although juveniles are executed in few countries including US major opposition comes from US itself (Reaves.2001). Human rights group argue that death penalty to juveniles is a barbaric affair. They argue that juveniles are too young to understand the seriousness of a crime (Trying children as adults. 2010). Moreover some juvenile offenders are themselves victims of crimes including physical and sexual child abuse. However persons who support capital punishment is of the view that person who is old enough to kill is old enough to die for it (Saudi Arabia executed at least two juvenile offenders in 2009.2010). Saudi Arabia is a party to the convention on the rights of a child which prohibits capital punishment to children. However the officials still claim that they strictly follow the guidelines of the convention. Most of the trial proceedings in Saudi Arabia take place inside closed doors without adequate legal representatio n. Both children and adults are often convicted on the basis of confessions that are obtained under duress, which includes torture as well as other ill treatments during detention (Amnesty International Press Release. 2009). Despite serious international intervention and pressure exerted on Saudi Arabia, it has not seriously thought of banning juvenile executions conclusively (Saudi Arabia: