If your child's under 17, the police must contact you as soon as possible after he or she is brought to a police station. Officers should not begin to question your child until you're there, unless a delay would put people or property at risk. Like an adult, a child under arrest has the right to speak to a solicitor in private, free of charge, no matter what the financial circumstances of your family. This isn't the case with legal aid to pay for a lawyer in any court case that may follow. You'll need to get guidance on whether your child's eligible. If it's a first offence, and/or relatively minor, it may well be dealt with outside the court system. If you live in England or Wales, the Youth Justice Board website gives full details of the possibilities. The Youth Justice section of the Scottish Government website has information for parents in Scotland, and parents in Northern Ireland should visit the Youth Justice Agency website. If charges are brought, your child will almost certainly appear in a youth court. This is often in the same building as the adult magistrates' court, but is usually less formal and not open to the general public or the press. A defendant under 18 may be sent to an adult magistrates' court if he or she is being tried with an adult. If the maximum sentence for the alleged crime is more than six months in prison, the magistrates must refer the case on to the Crown Court, regardless of the age of the defendant. Children under ten cannot be charged as they are below the age of criminal responsibility.
This article was last reviewed by Heather Welford in September 2008.
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