The Relation between Maturity and Criminal Liability

Criminal maturity is a relatively new expression in the criminal law literature. Significance of this discussion in the legal community is mostly because of the practical predicament caused by directing criminal liability to individuals whom the customary conscience considers child while the prevailing perspective treats them as deserving a reaction equivalent to the reaction to their fathers. The present essay attempts to reread essentials of the prevailing perspective which claims adequacy of maturity in the criminal liability. This rereading leads us to the conclusion that multiple proofs can be found in the Quran and hadiths, which are foundations of the Islamic legal system, as well as words of great jurists that intellectual maturity is a condition for criminal liability