Benefit of the Doubt Principle
Definition
In age assessment, the principle that when the estimated age range spans a legal threshold (typically 18 years), the subject should be treated as falling below the threshold (as a child) until evidence demonstrates otherwise. Endorsed by UNHCR, IOFOS, and most national child-rights bodies.
- Context
- Age assessment of the living
- Trigger
- Estimated range spans a legal age threshold
- Default
- Subject treated as below threshold (a child)
- Endorsed by
- UNHCR, IOFOS, most national child-rights bodies
Common questions
Why does the principle default toward treating an uncertain case as a child rather than an adult?+
The consequence of wrongly treating a child as an adult, such as placement in adult detention or an adult asylum process, is considered more harmful than the reverse error, so the principle deliberately weighs the uncertainty in the direction that protects the more vulnerable outcome.
Does the principle apply when the estimated range sits entirely on one side of the threshold?+
No. It only applies when the age range genuinely straddles the legal threshold, given the method's inherent margin of error. If the estimated range sits clearly above or below the threshold, the assessment stands without invoking the benefit-of-the-doubt override.
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