News

02 February 2026

At 10 years of age, Northern Ireland (NI) has one of the lowest ages of criminal responsibility in the world. Despite repeated, longstanding calls, internationally and nationally, no legislative progress has been made.

On Thursday 29th January, the 10 is too Young coalition, published their latest joint briefing, providing the evidence for raising the age in NI to 16, with no exceptions, holding a briefing event for stakeholders and organisations on why this must be raised as a matter of urgency, and encouraging organisations to support this key change.

The group, made up of  Children in Northern Ireland (CiNI), the Children’s Law Centre, Include Youth, Niacro, the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People (NICCY) and the Voice of Young People in Care (VOYPIC) have said that the Justice Bill presents the opportunity to finally deliver reform that has been promised, consulted on and supported for well over a decade. Failing to act now would mean knowingly continuing a system that does not wholly work in the best interests of our children and young people.

The 10 is too Young Coalition is encouraging Members of the NI Assembly to support an amendment to the Justice Bill to raise the age, with no exceptions, as a necessary, proportionate and principled reform to our justice system.

The briefing paper published is now available to download.

03 December 2025

Appearing before the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Education Committee, on Wednesday 3rd December, as part of its inquiry into Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), the Children’s Law Centre (CLC) acknowledged ongoing efforts by the Department of Education and the Education Authority (EA) to transform the SEND system. However, CLC stressed that every step must be taken to ensure these reforms do not replicate the shortcomings of the past.

Despite years of work under the SEND transformation programme, many children still face delays in accessing the support they need. CLC warned that without meaningful change, the system risks rebranding old barriers rather than removing them.

Speaking after appearing at the committee, Rachel Hogan BL, SEND Specialist Legal Adviser said: “The percentage of children on the SEN register who now require a statement has doubled in the last decade, rising from 22% in 2014/15 to 42% in 2024/25. This reflects a system where children’s needs are being left unmet for prolonged periods.

“We recognise the commitment to improving SEND provision, but transformation must lead to tangible outcomes for children. Too many families continue to experience prolonged waits for specialist support and this cannot become the norm. Every child has a right to education now, not in another decade.

“Despite the clear commitment, children with special educational needs are still being left without education. For some families being supported by CLC, the loss of education has stretched into years.

“In our work, we continue to see disabled children put on reduced timetables, sent home early, or simply left without any education at all. This is not acceptable under the law and it should never be acceptable in any society that values children’s rights.

“Continuing to build systems upon a shaky foundation with insufficient financial and human resources will not produce changed outcomes. Increasing capacity of pupil support services to respond directly to children through early intervention to meet their needs will enable the EA pupil support services to deliver positive change.”

A new podcast, Rights Unmuted, created and hosted by Youth@CLC, the youth advisory panel at the Children’s Law Centre (CLC), is giving young people the opportunity to discuss the issues that matter most to them. Launched on Friday 24^th October, the first podcast in the series includes guests Chris Quinn, the Children’s Commissioner for Northern Ireland, as well as Fergal McFerran, the Policy and Public Affairs Manager at CLC. The episode covers everything from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to viral memes, gen-z slang and votes at 16.

Throughout the series, the conversations will cover a wide range of topics selected and hosted by the young people themselves. Whether it’s global rights and the impact of worldwide conflict on children, child poverty, school uniforms or mental health, the young people aim to speak up, speak out and speak the truth about children’s rights.

Youth@CLC member Ella said: “Too often the voices of children and young people are left out of important conversations. We’re aiming to change that with our new podcast Rights Unmuted. Created, researched and hosted by young people, we’re starting the conversations that matter to us with a wide range of guests.

“We’ve been speaking to experts, people with lived experience and other young people to bring the conversation around children’s rights from the margins to the mic. From classrooms to courtrooms, no topic is off limits.”

Series one of Rights Unmuted contains 9 episodes, with episodes launched fortnightly. You can find the episodes at https://childrenslawcentre.org.uk/podcasts/ or search for Rights Unmuted on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts or Castbox.

Youth@CLC would like to thank The National Lottery’s Community Fund and The Clothworkers Foundation for their support in making the podcast happen.