Mauritius: Parliamentary commission studies lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 14 to 12

In Mauritius, a parliamentary commission set up by Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam is examining the possibility of lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 14 to 12. The information was reported on October 23, 2026, by RFI and picked up by allAfrica. The commission was installed following violence involving minors that occurred on the island in mid-October.

It is tasked with understanding why adolescents reach such points and examining how to strengthen parental responsibility, including through measures against those who might push their children to commit offenses. Lowering the age of criminal responsibility is, at this stage, only one of the avenues being considered.

What Mauritian law says

Article 49 of the Children's Act 2020, which came into force on January 24, 2022, prohibits the criminal prosecution of a child under 14, lawyer Quayyam Annowar reminds us in Le Défi Média. This 14-year threshold was set by the Supreme Court in the Jeetah v State (2014) ruling, which overturned a 1983 precedent.

A divisive debate

For Prisheela Mottee, president of the NGO Raise Brave Girls, "minors must be able to face the consequences of their actions," provided that the reform also helps them rebuild themselves, she told RFI.

Clinical psychologist Émilie Rivet opposes the move. She cites Mauritius's commitments under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and points out that an adolescent's brain has not reached maturity, which limits their ability to assess risks. "Putting children in prison does not work," she stated to RFI.

In Le Défi Média, the Ombudsperson for Children Aneeta Ghoorah, who condemns the violence and vandalism, frames the question differently: does changing the age from 14 to 12 solve the problem? She believes that some minors may have been manipulated by adults and calls for a review of the system as a whole. Lawyer Avineshwur Dayal points to inadequately equipped courts and overcrowded rehabilitation centers. Social worker Christiane Pasnin fears that a conviction on a criminal record could haunt a child for the rest of their life.

The commission is set to consult psychologists and sociologists before submitting its recommendations. The debate extends beyond Mauritius: several African countries are questioning the criminal treatment of minors, caught between public pressure following acts of violence and commitments made under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which has been ratified by all states on the continent.