Legal Update: Children's overnight stays in cells

Research by the Howard League for Penal Reform has found that 40,716 children under the age of 17 were held overnight in police cells in 2011. This included 2,292 children aged 10 to 13. Even a one night stay in a police cell can be a frightening and intimidating experience for children, particularly for young children, and detention should be strictly used as a last resort measure, appropriate in only a very small number of cases. The statistics on the number of children in police detention, however, indicates that it is a regular occurrence.

Law on the use of police detention

The government has obligations in international law to protect and fulfil the rights of children who come into conflict with the law, including children who have been arrested and subject to the possibility of police detention. Article 37(b) of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child provides that "no child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily", and that "the arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law and shall be used as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time". Also, the UNCRC provides, in Article 3, that, in any decision affecting a child, their best interests shall be a primary consideration.