Citation

Gooch K, von Berg P. Youth Justice 2019; 19(2): 85-101.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, National Association for Youth Justice, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1473225419868840

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

During the last 30 years, the way in which children give evidence in the criminal justice system in England and Wales has been radically transformed. These reforms have, however, neglected child suspects in the police station. Recent piecemeal reforms to the statutory regime for children in police detention have overlooked a critical stage of the criminal justice process: the police interview. This article critically analyses the policy, practice and law surrounding police questioning of child suspects. It demonstrates that the absence of child-specific guidance when interviewing child suspects is not only out of step with wider reforms, but carries real risks regarding the effective communication and participation of child suspect.

Keywords: Juvenile justice

Language: en