Mr Straw also plans to abolish the legal convention of doli incapax.

ECONOMIST: Youth crime

Abolishing doli incapax is a cheap gesture which ignores a ten-year- old's genuine difficulty in thinking through the long-term consequences of his actions.

ECONOMIST: Young offenders

But Mr Howard has come up with nothing as severe as the abolition of doli incapax, and has refused to support blanket youth curfews.

ECONOMIST: Young offenders

The bill also controversially abolishes the principle of doli incapax which presumes that children under 14 do not know the difference between right and wrong.

ECONOMIST: Straws in the wind

Most controver sially, Labour would abolish the legal doctrine of doli incapax, which presumes, unless it is proven otherwise, that a child below the age of 14 does not know the difference between right and wrong and so cannot be found guilty of a crime.

ECONOMIST: Young offenders