Small Voices, Big Protection: Police Interviews of a Child
Picture this: You’re 16 years old, you’re out with your friends and you receive a call from a No Caller ID. You answer the phone and it’s the police on the other end. They tell you that they want to speak with you in relation to a suspected criminal offence. Perhaps you had a few drinks with your friends one night and got into a fight – the police may be investigating an assault offence. Or perhaps you engaged in sexual activity with someone, and that person has gone to the police to make a formal complaint of sexual assault or rape.
The worry, stress and fear sinks in and you begin to panic.
What do you do?
Contact a criminal lawyer straight away. Potts Lawyers can be contacted on:
- 07 3221 4999 (during business hours); and
- 0488 999 980 (available 24/7).
When police wish to interview a child in relation to a suspected criminal offence, there are special rules that apply and it is important that you are aware of them. Parents and guardians of the child the police wishes to speak to should urgently seek legal advice before any interview with the police occurs.
Who is treated as a child?
A person, who at the time of the alleged offending has not turned 18 years old, is to be dealt with under the youth justice system as a child.
A person, who is alleged to have committed an offence as a child but has since become an adult, is to be treated as a child for the purposes of the Youth Justice Act, unless proceedings for the offence are commenced more than 1 year after the person has become an adult.
The Rights of a Child Being Interviewed
Right to Silence
It is a fundamental rule of our criminal law that a person accused of an offence is not obligated to answer police questions (apart from your full name, date of birth and address).
A person accused of an offence has a right to silence – that is, a right to say nothing in the face of police questioning. Much like adults who have been contacted by the police in relation to a suspected criminal offence, a child has the same right.
Right to Speak with a Support Person
If a child is not legally represented, they have the right to speak with a support person and the police must not question them unless the support person is present. The support person should be:
- A parent or guardian;
- A lawyer;
- An appropriate case worker or support person;
- A relative or friend; or
- A justice of the peace.
If a child gives a statement to the police in an interview without a support person present, it is very unlikely that a court would admit the statement into evidence.
Right to Participate in an Interview under the Protected Admissions Scheme
An interview provided by a child to the police can fall under the Protected Admissions Scheme. The Protected Admissions Scheme is designed to reduce potential barriers to the cautioning or restorative justice conference options.
The Protected Admissions Scheme allows a system for an agreement to be reached about a child’s eligibility for a diversionary option and the inadmissibility of any admission made pursuant to that agreement.
A protected admission interview is an interview that:
- is conducted under the Protected Admissions Scheme; and
- allows a child to admit to an offence during an interview. However, any admissions made are not admissible in court proceedings.
In other words, if a child makes any admissions during a protected admission interview, concerning any offence, it is not admissible in any subsequent court proceedings and cannot be relied upon to prove any fact in issue.
That means, an admission cannot be used:
- as evidence in a court for offences against the child;
- as evidence in a court for offences against a co-offender; or
- as challenges in a record of interview with co-offenders.
A protected admission interview can only be conducted after an alleged offence has been investigated.
If a child is considering a protected admission interview, the officers must facilitate contact between the child and the child’s parents and/or legal representative. If you are a child and have been contacted by the police, you should seek legal advice immediately.
As lawyers, we have the opportunity to obtain further information from the police in relation to their investigation, including an outline of the circumstances of the offence alleged to have been committed and provide you with our advice in relation to the interview itself and diversionary options.
Legal Advice
If you have been contacted by the police, you should seek our advice immediately. A benefit of engaging us to act for you is that we can liaise with the investigating officers in the early stages of your matter to determine if a diversionary option is available to you and whether or not you should participate in an interview.