Evidence course work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Evidence course work - Essay ExampleLegal principles aim at promoting the rights of children passim the administration of justice. This means that the legal system needs to up hold up the fact that children, including individuals jump ond 17 years, are people in their own right and thence possess obligations and rights. These rights and obligations must be taken into consideration and respected by judicial and administrative authorities. 17 year olds enjoy special rights at practice of law stations. The purpose of this paper is to examine the array of legal rights endowed on 17 year olds while in police custody for inter figureing. The paper volition further make pertinent recommendations to enhance the level of protection offered to juveniles in the initial stages of the juvenile justice process. Background International, regional and national legal principles hold that children possess special interests, needs and rights, which must be appreciated in all stages of the criminal justice system. This means that the administration of justice, both criminal and other than should always be guided by principal principles of non-discrimination, which are aimed at upholding the best interests of the juvenile. The European Convention on Human Rights is one of the most germane(predicate) regional legal principles that countries in Europe seek to incorporate into their domestic legal systems in order to provide guidance on the treatment of juveniles at bottom the justice system3. The Convention has influenced the creation and implementation of legal provisions much(prenominal) as the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) and the Human Rights Act 1998 with the view to enhance the protection of juveniles rights in all spheres of life. Notably, recent court cases have revealed that PACE is inadequate in its protection of juveniles since it promotes the treatment of 17 year olds as adults during interviews at the police station. In R. (on the application of HC ) v Secretary of State for the Home Department 2013 EWHC 982 (Admin) (QBD (Admin)), the court ruled that the failure to revise PACE 1984 engrave C in a manner that differentiates between adults and 17 year olds is a direct contravention of the governments legal duty chthonic the Human Rights Act 19984. PACE 1984 rule C allows police officers to treat 17 year olds as adults5. For instance, police officers are allowed to delay juveniles phone calls to their guardians on the pretext that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the exercise of the right to a phone call will impair the investigations. PACE Code C considers juveniles as all individuals who seem to be below the age of 17 years in the absence of evidence to the contrary6. Since the ratification of the small fryren Act in 1908, the criminal justice system has maintained that young offenders must be treated differently from adults in all stages of the justice process. Other legal principles such as remand and sentenc ing legislation, for instance, Criminal Justice Act 2003, Powers of Criminal Courts Sentencing Act 2000 and the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 also differentiate between those below and over the age of 18 years7. Additionally, the Prison Service Instruction 08/2012 describes children as all individuals under 18 years. Under Article 1 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) a child is essentially a person under 18 years, unless the law applicable to the child delineates that majority is attained at a