Editors are fighting proposals which could see lifetime anonymity given to any person under 18 convicted of a crime.

In the week after teenagers Scarlet Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe were named as the murderers of Brianna Ghey, the Scottish government wants to give judges the right to ensure that children convicted of crimes north of the border will never be publicly identified.

The SNP-led administration’s Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill would ban the media from naming any minor convicted of any crime and give judges discretion over whether to extend that into adulthood.

But the Society of Editors has expressed its deep concern with the plan which it said was “irreconcilable with the principle of open justice.”

Last week, a crown court judge in England ruled that Jenkinson and Ratcliffe, both 16, could be named as the murderers of Brianna, who was stabbed to death on February 11 in Culcheth, Cheshire.

In 2019, media outlets in Scotland successfully applied to lift a ban on naming Aaron Campbell, then 16, as the person who raped and murdered six-year-old Alesha MacPhail on Bute.

Expressing concern over the plans, SoE executive director Dawn Alford said: “The proposal for an automatic entitlement to lifetime anonymity for any minor convicted of a crime in Scotland is irreconcilable with the principle of open justice.

“While the Society recognises that there will be occasions in which extended reporting restrictions are necessary and proportionate in criminal proceedings involving children, the default position should always be one of openness and transparency and restrictions must be judged on a case-by-cases basis rather than by implementing any blanket ban.”

“As has been seen in the recent case involving those responsible for the murder of Brianna Ghey in Culcheth, there are occasions in which there is a significant public interest in restrictions being lifted to allow full and informed debate on cases involving children and any blanket restrictions would prevent proper reporting around such serious crimes.”

Newsbrands Scotland director John McLellan, pictured, said the proposed law “would prevent crucial details being reported about serious incidents”.

The Scottish bill has passed its first stage at Holyrood and is being assessed by the parliament’s education, children and young persons’ committee.

Natalie Don, the minister for children and young people, said the new law would “ensure children receive age-appropriate justice”.

The bill proposes that it would be an “offence to publish information that is likely to lead to the identification of a person suspected of committing an offence at a time when they were aged under 18” with restrictions applying regardless of whether the suspected offence took place before or after the new laws come into place.

The Scottish Conservative MSP Roz McCall said: “Whilst changes to the justice system for children under 18 are welcome, to ensure proper and necessary care and support, the wellbeing of victims should always be an integral part of decision-making — including when reporting restrictions on suspected offenders are imposed.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Children’s Care and Justice Bill contains provisions which mean it will be up to the independent courts to decide whether or not children can be identified in certain circumstances.

“Rather than reporting restrictions automatically ceasing when a child-victim, witness or suspect/accused turns 18, courts will have discretion to extend them and this would not be automatic and wouldn’t necessarily be lifelong.

“At the end of proceedings, the courts can still make a decision to name a child should this be in the public interest – as is the case now.

“The changes to the Bill agreed at Stage 2 aim to further balance appropriate protection for child victims, witnesses and suspects/accused, with the principles of open justice and ECHR rights like freedom of expression and respect for private and family life.”