The warning came from the charity Just for Kids Law at a judicial review hearing at London’s High Court yesterday. Lawyers for the charity argued that current legislation treating 17-year-olds as adults while held in police custody contradicts both international and domestic law.
Police are legally obliged to contact a parent or an “appropriate adult” to offer support and advice for young people in custody aged 16 or under. But for 17-year-olds, the decision as to whether to contact an adult is down to the discretion of the officer, unless the young person is deemed to be “vulnerable”.
Just for Kids Law warned that the police routinely opt not to contact an adult for 17-year-olds. The charity pointed to the fact that the situation breaches the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which states that under-18s must be treated as children.
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