What Happens in the Beginning, Matters in the End: Achieving Best Evidence with Child Suspects in the Police Station
What Happens in the Beginning, Matters in the End: Achieving Best Evidence with Child Suspects in the Police Station
复制标题
开始发生的事情最终很重要：在警察局为儿童嫌疑人获取最佳证据
作者：
Kate Gooch;Piers Von Berg
在过去的30年里，英格兰和威尔士的刑事司法系统中儿童作证的方式发生了根本性的变化。然而，这些改革忽视了警察局中的儿童嫌疑犯。最近对被警察拘留的儿童的法定制度进行的零星改革忽视了刑事司法程序的一个关键阶段：警察面谈。本文批判性地分析了警察讯问儿童嫌疑人的政策、实践和法律。它表明，在约谈儿童嫌疑人时缺乏针对儿童的指导不仅与更广泛的改革不合拍，而且在儿童嫌疑人的有效沟通和参与方面存在真实的风险。
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 suspects.