<Tr> <Td> 1998 </Td> <Td> UK Government </Td> <Td> The Human Rights Act 1998 received Royal Assent, mostly coming into force in 2002 . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> January 1998 </Td> <Td> UK Government </Td> <Td> The Public Interest Disclosure Act received Royal Assent, paving the way for whistleblowers of child abuse and other illegal corporate activities to receive support and protection via the industrial tribunal system . Employees such as those in the army, are excluded </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1998 </Td> <Td> UK Government </Td> <Td> The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 abolished the distinction in England and Wales with regard to criminal responsibility between young persons aged at least 14 and children aged between 10 and 14 . Hitherto, a child over 10 but under 14 was deemed in law to be doli incapax, i.e. incapable of crime, unless the prosecution could satisfy the court that a particular child was in fact of such maturity, education and social development as to rebut that presumption . (Children under 10 in England and Wales remain doli incapax, as they have been since the minimum age for criminal responsibility was raised from 8 to 10 under the Children and Young Persons Act 1963; power under the Children and Young Persons Act 1969 to raise the minimum age from 10 to 14 has never been implemented . In Scotland the minimum age remains at 8, but the presumption of doli incapax also remains). Describing Youth Courts as the' secret garden' of the legal system, Home Secretary Jack Straw established the Youth Justice system, with Restorative Justice premised as the key underlying principle for resolving youth crime . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 1999 </Td> <Td> UK Government </Td> <Td> Protection of Children Act 1999 required a list to be kept of persons considered unsuitable to work with children . </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr>

When was the age of criminal responsibility lowered to 10