Dan Jarvis – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-03-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will redraft the code governing detention of teenagers under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 to ensure that 17 year olds in custody are treated as teenagers by the police.

Damian Green

Following the High Court ruling in the judicial review HC vs (1) Secretary of
State for the Home Department and (2) Commissioner of Police for the
Metropolis, the Government made changes to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act
1984 Codes of Practice C & H, which govern the treatment of detained persons in
police custody. The changes, which came into effect on 21st October 2013, have
the effect of requiring the police to treat 17 year olds in police custody as
children by providing, as a matter of course, Appropriate Adults and to inform
a person responsible for the welfare of the 17 year old of their detention.
These changes are mandatory.

I refer the Hon. Member to a statement made by my Rt. Hon. Friend (Damian Green) on 21st October 2013, Official Report, columns 4-6WS explaining these changes.