In English law, an appropriate adult is a parent, guardian or social worker; or if no person matching this is available, any responsible person over 18. The term was introduced as part of the policing reforms in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and applies in England and Wales. In England and Wales, an appropriate adult must be called by police whenever they detain or interview a child or vulnerable adult. They must be present for a range of police processes, including interviews, intimate searches and identification procedures, as detailed in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 Codes of Practice, primarily Code C.
Details
In relation to children, appropriate adult is defined in primary legislation under section of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, which defines the role as being "to safeguard the interests of children and young persons detained or questioned by police officers." The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 section states that in relation to a 'juvenile' an appropriate adult should be: Local authority Youth Offending Teams have a statutory duty to provide an appropriate adult for all children under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 . This is carried out whenever parents are unavailable, unwilling or inappropriate to act as appropriate adult. Depending on the local authority, this may be carried out by YOT staff, sessional workers, community volunteers or contracted out to a specialist charity or business. The role includes: Appropriate adults are also required whenever mentally vulnerable adults are detained in custody. However, there is no statutory provision for vulnerable adults and formal schemes are not available in all parts of England and Wales. Vulnerable defendants in Northern Ireland may also be able to access the services of a Registered Intermediary to facilitate communication while giving oral testimony at court. The role of appropriate adult in Scots law is different from that in England and Wales. Appropriate Adults facilitate communication between the police and adults who have a mental disorder. This is defined in the Mental Health Act 2003 as: ‘any mental illness, personality disorder, learning disability however caused or manifested’. In practice this includes people with acquired brain injury, autistic spectrum disorder or dementia. Many areas operate an 'Appropriate Adult Volunteer' scheme, where trained individuals volunteer their spare time to serve in this role. Many schemes operate on a rostered basis across weekends and sometimes week day evenings to expand the service outside of the hours provided by social workers.
Notable legal changes
On 26 October 2015 the British government used a statutory instrument to commence changes to section of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as under the age of 18, however 17 year olds in police custody in England and Wales fell into a grey area prior to the changes in . In 2013, the Home Secretary ordered the amendment of PACE Code C to extend the requirement for an AA to 17 year olds when detained or questioned by police. Earlier in the year of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act made revisions to sections 66ZA and 66B of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. This extended to 17 year olds the requirement for an AA to be present for youth cautions and youth conditional cautions. Section 42 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act amends section 37 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. This is the section of PACE which defines “arrested juvenile”, a term that is used in Part 4 of PACE, the part that relates to detention. Until October 2015, PACE stated: “arrested juvenile” means a person arrested with or without a warrant who appears to be under the age of 17. From October 2015, PACE states “arrested juvenile” means a person arrested with or without a warrant who appears to be under the age of 18. The effect of the change is that 17 year olds are included in the definition of “arrested juvenile”. This means that, as with all other children: -
Under 17 year olds may now be detained after charge if the custody officer has reasonable grounds for believing that they ought to be detained in their own interests.
Under 17 year olds who are detained post charge must be transferred to local authority accommodation
Under it is lawful for any person acting on behalf of the authority to detain a 17 year old who has been transferred to local authority accommodation under s.38
Under if the police cannot transfer as per the above due to ‘impracticability’ or lack of secure accommodation, they must present a certificate to the court.
Although PACE Code C has been amended to require the presence of an AA for 17 year olds, this is not yet in written in legislation. PACE 1984 an AA must be present when police make the request, give a warning and information and take a sample “in the case of a person who has not attained the age of 17”. The term “appropriate adult” is defined only in relation to a person who has “not attained the age of 17”. The PACE Codes still have to be followed even though they are not law.
