'Criminal age of responsibly should be raised from 10 to 18'

The document from the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (CCJS) also suggested children should no longer be sent to prison.

Claiming there was an urgent need to review the approach to "children in trouble", a collection of essays from academics and campaigners said the British age of criminal responsibility is much lower than in countries such as France, Germany, Canada and Russia.

The age at which children can be prosecuted should be raised to 14, 16 or even 18, the authors said.

Rebecca Palmer of the Children and Young People's Unit at the Greater London Authority said in her essay: "The negative perception of young people as 'hoodie-wearing yobs' should be concertedly challenged.

"The age of criminal responsibility should be raised to 18 and Asbos should be abolished.

"No child should be in prison and alternatives should be sought."

Bob Reitemeier of the Children's Society suggested 14 years should be the minimum. Criminologist professors Barry Goldson, of Liverpool University, and John Muncie, of the Open University, wrote: "We submit that serious consideration should be given to raising the age of criminal responsibility to 16 or even 18."

The CCJS, which is based at King's College, London, said England and Wales has one of the highest child imprisonment rates in Europe.

The report suggested moving responsibility for youth justice from the Home Office to the Department for Education and Skills.

Grave crimes by children should be punished by a "residential training order" of up to five years, it added.

CCJS deputy director Enver Solomon said: "We are publishing this because we believe the current age of criminal responsibility is too low and there needs to be an urgent rethink.

"All options need to be under consideration, and we want to start a debate about what the new age should be.

"We think the new Ministry of Justice should make it a priority to look again at the age of criminal responsibility."

The joint editor of the report, the CCJS's Zoe Davies, said: "It is striking that the Government remains committed to the criminalisation of children and young people as a mainstream policy response.

"This is despite all the evidence that the youth justice system is damaging to the majority of those young people who come into contact with it."

A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: "There are no current plans to raise the age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales.

"We are concerned about 10 and 11-year-olds becoming drawn into offending behaviour, and criminal responsibility from the age of 10 allows us to intervene early to prevent further offending and to help young people develop a sense of personal responsibility for their misbehaviour.

"The early teenage years are an important, high risk period when timely intervention can make a real difference."