doli incapax
A child is doli incapax when the law conclusively presumes he cannot form a guilty mind. In India, s.20 BNS (old s.82 IPC) provides that nothing is an offence done by a child under seven. For a child above seven and under twelve, s.21 BNS (old s.83 IPC) gives a qualified immunity: the act is not an offence if the child had not attained sufficient maturity of understanding to judge its nature and consequences.
The common confusion is to treat s.21 as a presumption the defence must prove; maturity is a question of fact judged from the child's conduct, such as concealment or flight. English law fixes the age of criminal responsibility at ten and abolished the rebuttable presumption for older children in 1998.
Example
A six-year-old who sets fire to a hut is doli incapax under s.20 BNS, whatever his understanding.
In Indian law
- Sections 20 and 21 BNS (old ss.82 and 83 IPC)
See also
Read more in the study notes
- General exceptions: mistake, accident, necessity and incapacity (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita)