Report and Recommendations - Scottish Government

6.3.23 As has been described earlier, there are many situations in which the particularoffence is not one which has any prospect of reaching the courts or aChildren’s Hearing. In such cases, the child should not be detained at all and,in any event, in practical terms access to a lawyer is unnecessary. Thedecision to arrest and detain a child suspect should only be taken where thereis no reasonable alternative. In taking that decision, the police should berequired to apply, as a primary consideration, the best interests of the child, inline with Article 3.1 of the UN Convention. The detained child suspect musthave the same right of access to a lawyer as an adult. The regime has toensure that the child suspect is, so far as is practicable, able to understandhis/her right of access to a lawyer and capable, by reason of suchunderstanding, either to exercise that right or to waive it.6.3.24 It is recognised, even if not express in statute, that the child suspect is entitledto the advice and assistance or his/her parent or other carer in the event of thechild’s detention. The Review considers that, in relation to the child’sconditions of detention, a parent or carer may have a role equally important tothat of a lawyer. Prior to any interview, a parent or carer may have some rolein providing parental, as distinct from legal, advice to the child on whether torespond to questioning. The Review takes the view that child suspects shouldhave an expressed statutory right of access to a parent, carer or responsibleperson broadly similar to, and running in parallel with, those in relation to theright of access to a lawyer.217