Legal Update: In a Nutshell - Rights for 17-year-olds in police custody

What is an “appropriate adult”?

The role of the “appropriate adult” was introduced under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and its purpose is to support and advise a young person or vulnerable adult in police custody and facilitate communication between them and the police.   

The appropriate adult is not a lawyer and is often a young person’s parent, guardian or friend, but can also be a volunteer or social or health care professional. It is the responsibility of the police officer to identify a young person on arrest and ensure that he or she has an appropriate adult present before questioning commences.  

What are the changes and how did they come about?

The changes, which came into force last month, came about through revisions to the Police and Criminal Evidence Code C. Code C sets out the requirements for the detention, treatment and questioning of suspects by police officers while they are in police custody.  

Before the changes, appropriate adults were only a requirement for young people up to the age of 16 years, and did not apply to young people aged 17. The changes make it a requirement for police officers to ensure that all young people aged up to 18 years have an appropriate adult appointed.

The changes followed a High Court case, R (on the application of HC) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department and The Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis, which challenged the then position under the Act which denied 17-year-olds the right to an appropriate adult and other guarantees that are afforded to young people aged between 10 and 16 in the criminal justice system.

In this case, in which Coram Children’s Legal Centre intervened, the court found that the failure to treat 17-year-olds as children within the criminal justice system was inconsistent with international law (which defines children as persons aged under 18 years) and is a breach of the Human Rights Act 1998.   

How will the changes affect young people in police custody?

From now, 17-year-olds will have a right to have an appropriate adult with them while they are in police custody.  

Appropriate adults must be present for: the explanation of rights and entitlements to the young person; interviews and requests to sign statements; identification procedures (for example, fingerprinting); drugs testing; intimate searches (for suspects of drug offences); strip searches; X-rays and ultra-sound scans; reminders about legal advice and giving the young person information about waiving their rights to translation of documents; reviews of continued detention; cautions or special warnings; and charging or being informed of an intended prosecution.