UK Parliament / Open data

Coroners and Justice Bill

I thank the noble and learned Baroness for giving way. My understanding is that the frontal lobes of children mature at about the age of 14, so it would be normal for the frontal lobes of a 13 or 12 year-old to be immature and therefore for those children to be particularly susceptible to impulsive behaviour. If I heard the noble and learned Baroness correctly, she said that, where the development of the frontal lobes was immature, it would be recognised as a mental condition. That probably highlights the difficulty. We are not saying that children who lack development of their frontal lobes have a mental condition but that it is just normal for children of 13 or 12 not to have developed those frontal lobes. We want the courts to be able to take account of that. Perhaps I misunderstood the noble and learned Baroness.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
712 c187 
Session
2008-09
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
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