Children under 14 are incapable of evil and should be protected from criminal responsibility, NSW review finds

Review was led by former supreme court judge turned parole authority chair Geoffrey Bellew SC and former NSW police deputy commissioner Jeffrey Loy

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A centuries-old legal presumption that children aged between 10 and 14 are not capable of evil should become law, a New South Wales review led by a former supreme court judge and a former senior NSW police figure has recommended.

In NSW, the criminal age of responsibility is 10 but the common law presumption of doli incapax - Latin for incapable of evil" - can apply up to 14, offering protection for children being prosecuted on the presumption they don't understand the difference between right and wrong.