• The age of reason varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but 7 years is traditionally the age below which a child is conclusively presumed not to have committed a crime or tort, while 14 years is usu. the age below which a rebuttable presumption applies. A child of 14 or older has traditionally been considered legally competent to commit a crime and therefore held accountable. With the creation of juvenile courts and their investiture of delinquency jurisdiction over children from birth to age 18, these traditional distinctions have nearly vanished. They surface from time to time in murder cases when a juvenile court considers whether to certify or transfer a very young child for trial in criminal court or when a prosecutor seeks to bypass the juvenile court by filing criminal charges against a young child. [Cases: Infants 59, 66. C.J.S. Infants §§ 189, 197, 204.]
age of reason
The age at which a person becomes able to distinguish right from wrong and is thus legally capable of committing a crime or tort.
