CAT/C/GBR/CO/5 Electrical discharge weapons (Taser) 26. While taking note of the guidance for England and Wales, which seeks to limit the use of electrical discharge weapons to situations where there is a serious threat of violence, the Committee expresses concern that the use of electrical discharge weapons almost doubled in 2011 and that the State party intends to further extend their use in the Metropolitan Police area. In addition, it is deeply concerned at instances where electrical discharge weapons have been used on children, persons with disabilities and in recent policing operations where the serious threat of violence was questioned (arts. 2 and 16). The State party should ensure that electrical discharge weapons are used exclusively in extreme and limited situations – where there is a real and immediate threat to life or risk of serious injury – as a substitute for lethal weapons and by trained law enforcement personnel only. The State party should revise the regulations governing the use of such weapons with a view to establishing a high threshold for their use and expressly prohibiting their use on children and pregnant women. The Committee is of the view that the use of electrical discharge weapons should be subject to the principles of necessity and proportionality and should be inadmissible in the equipment of custodial staff in prisons or any other place of deprivation of liberty. The Committee urges the State party to provide detailed instructions and adequate training to law enforcement personnel entitled to use electric discharge weapons, and to strictly monitor and supervise their use. Age of criminal responsibility 27. The Committee welcomes the enactment of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010, which raises the age of criminal prosecution from 8 to 12 years in Scotland. The Committee remains concerned, however, that criminal responsibility starts at the age of 8 in Scotland and at 10 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and regrets the State party’s reluctance to raise the age despite calls to do so from more than 50 organizations, charities and experts in December 2012 and the repeated recommendations made by the Committee on the Rights of the Child 5 (arts. 2 and 16). The State party should raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility and ensure the full implementation of juvenile justice standards, as expressed in general comment No. 10 (2007) on children’s rights in juvenile justice of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (paras. 32 and 33). The State party should ensure full implementation of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (Beijing Rules) (General Assembly resolution 40/33, annex) and the United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (Riyadh Guidelines) (General Assembly resolution 45/112, annex). Restraint of children 28. The Committee is concerned that the State party is still using techniques of restraint that aim to inflict deliberate pain on children in young offender institutions, including to maintain good order and discipline (arts. 2 and 16). The Committee reiterates the recommendation of the Committee on the Rights of the Child to ensure that restraint against children is used only as a last resort and exclusively to prevent harm to the child or others and that all methods of physical restraint for disciplinary purposes be abolished (CRC/C/GBR/CO/4). The Committee 5 10 See CRC/C/15/Add.135; CRC/C/15/Add.188; CRC/C/GBR/CO/4.