Report and Recommendations - Scottish Government

proffered 30 . If arrested, the child must be told why that has happened and “beprovided with access to a lawyer and be given the opportunity to contact theirparents or a person whom they trust” 31 . The parent should be asked to attendthe police station 32 . The Guidelines continue 33 :“A child who has been taken into custody should not be questioned inrespect of criminal behaviour, or asked to make or sign a statementconcerning such involvement, except in the presence of a lawyer orone of the child’s parents or, if no parent is available, another personwhom the child trusts. The parent or this person may be excluded ifsuspected of involvement in the criminal behaviour or if engaging inconduct which amounts to an obstruction of justice”.There are further provisions regarding the training of lawyers in children’srights and related matters.6.3.17 The European Court has stressed that the right of a child to effectiveparticipation in his/her criminal trial requires that he/she be dealt with havingdue regard to his/her vulnerability and capacity from the first stages of hisinvolvement in a criminal investigation and, in particular, during anyquestioning by the police 34 . The effect of this is that the police require toensure that the child has a broad understanding of the nature of theinvestigation, of what is at stake for him/her and of his/her right to remainsilent. This means that he/she, if necessary with the assistance of, for example,an interpreter, lawyer, social worker or friend, must be able to understand the30 Article IV.A.131 Article IV.C.2832 Article IV.C.2933 at para 3034 Panovits v Cyprus, 11 December 2008 (no 4268/04) para 67; Adamkiewicz v Poland, 2 March 2010(no 54729/00) (principle extracted from English language press release)213