Children's Rights in Police Custody

Abstract

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child recognises that children in conflict with the law are entitled to special protection, especially during the criminal process. Despite important legal developments, relatively little is known about how children experience their rights. This chapter explores children’s experience of police questioning through the lens of children themselves, based on a study undertaken by the authors for the (Irish) Policing Authority. This chapter sets out the rights of children during police questioning in international and national law. It summarises, drawing on empirical research, how children experience these rights and then identifies the key factors that influence these experiences. This chapter concludes with recommendations as to how to improve the realisation of children’s rights in this setting, taking account of the need to appropriately balance the rights of the child suspect with the parameters of police investigation.