1. Oranga Tamariki

Question 1

Must Know - Care and protection age change, What is a young person?

Answer 1

Young person was re-defined as a person of or over the age of 14 years but under the age of 18 years.

17 year olds are included in the definition of ‘young person’ for the care and protection provisions.

Question 2

Must Know - Any constable that exercises the power conferred by subsection one of Section 42 of the children’s and young person Act must do three things - Search without warrant

Answer 2

1. Produce evidence of identity,
2. Disclose the powers being exercised
3. inform the commissioner withing 3 days

Note: The new care and protection age applies to this section.

Question 3

Must Know - what defines a child

Answer 3

Under the age of 14

Question 4

Must Know- What is the change in delegation

Answer 4

A broader range of professionals are now allowed to perform a wider set of tasks to help identify and meet the needs of vulnerable children and young people.

For example, where ‘social worker’ is replaced with ‘chief executive’ or with ‘delegate

Question 5

Section 39 – Place of safety warrants. Who may issue these?

Answer 5

(1) Any District Court Judge or, if no District Court Judge is available, any issuing officer (within the meaning of section 3 of the Search and Surveillance Act 2012) who, on application in writing verified in accordance with section 99 of that Act, is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that a child or young person is suffering, or is likely to suffer, ill-treatment, neglect, deprivation, abuse, or harm may issue a warrant authorising [any constable either by name or generally, or the chief executive] to search for the child or young person.

Question 6

Section 39 – Place of safety warrants. What does the warrant allow you t do?

Answer 6

to search for any child or young person may – (

a) Enter and search, by force if necessary, any dwelling house, building, aircraft, ship, carriage, vehicle, premises or place:
(b) If that person believes, on reasonable grounds, that the child or young person has suffered, or is likely to suffer, ill-treatment, serious neglect, abuse, serious deprivation, or serious harm,

– (i) Remove or detain, by force if necessary, the child or young person and place the child or young person in the custody of the chief executive;

or (ii) Where the child or young person is in a hospital, direct the Medical Superintendent of that hospital to keep that child or young person in that hospital.

(4) Where any direction is issued pursuant to subsection (3)(b)(ii) of this section in respect of any child or young person, that child or young person shall be deemed to have been placed in the custody of the [chief executive] pursuant to this section.

Question 7

Must Know - Section 42 – Search without warrant - What must it believe on reasonable grounds before using this power?

Answer 7

believes on reasonable grounds that it is critically necessary to protect a child or young person from injury or death may, without warrant,

Question 8

Must Know - Section 42 – Search without warrant What can I search?

Answer 8

(a) Enter and search, by force if necessary, any dwelling house, building, aircraft, ship, carriage, vehicle, premises or place:

Question 9

Must Know - Section 42 – Search without warrant. may I use force to detain or remove the child or young person?

Answer 9

Yes, (b) Remove or detain, by force if necessary, the child or young person and place the child or young person in the custody of the chief executive.

Question 10

Must Know - Section 42 – Search without warrant. What three things MUST I do when using this power?

Answer 10

(2) Every constable who exercises any powers conferred by subsection
(1) of this section shall, on first entering any dwelling house, building, aircraft, ship, carriage, vehicle, premises or place, and if requested, at any subsequent time,

– (a) Produce evidence of identity; and

(b) Disclose that those powers are being exercised under this section.
(3) A constable who exercises the power conferred by subsection (1) of this section shall, within 3 days after the day on which the power is exercised, forward to the Commissioner of Police a written report on the exercise of the power and the circumstances in which it came to be exercised.

Question 11

Section 42 - Does the new car and protection age apply to section 42?

Answer 11

Yes

Question 12

Section 48 – Unaccompanied children and young persons. Can I take a child that is with a parent or guardian?

Answer 12

NO, a child or young person is found unaccompanied by a parent or guardian or other person who usually has the care of the child or young person.

Question 13

Must Know- Section 48 – Unaccompanied children and young persons. What situation must exist?

Answer 13

in a situation in which the child’s or young person’s physical or mental health is being, or is likely to be, impaired,

Question 14

Section 48 – Unaccompanied children and young persons. Can I use force, if so, how much?

Answer 14

a constable may, using such force as may reasonably be necessary, take the child or young person

Question 15

Section 48 – Unaccompanied children and young persons. Where can I take the child or young person?

Answer 15

(a) With the consent of the child or young person, deliver the child or young person into the custody of a parent or guardian or other person usually having the care of the child or young person

Question 16

Section 48 – Unaccompanied children and young persons. What if they don’t consent to going to a parent or guardian or other person usually having the care of the child or young person or the parent or guardian is unwilling to take them?

Answer 16

place the child or young person in the custody of the chief executive by delivering the child or young person to [the chief executive acting through [[the chief executive’s]] delegate)].

Question 17

Must Know - What age does a young person mean in this section?

Answer 17

this section the term young person means a person of or over the age of 14 years but under the age of [18 years].

Question 18

Section 208 – Principles. Outline these

Answer 18

Act shall be guided by the following principles:

(a) The principle that, unless the public interest requires otherwise, criminal proceedings should not be instituted against a child or young person if there is an alternative means of dealing with the matter:
(b) The principle that criminal proceedings should not be instituted against a child or young person solely in order to provide any assistance or services needed to advance the welfare of the child or young person, or [their] family, whanau, or family group:
(c) The principle that any measures for dealing with offending by children or young persons should be designed—
(i) To strengthen the family, whanau, hapu, iwi, and family group of the child or young person concerned; and
(ii) To foster the ability of families, whanau, hapu, iwi, and family groups to develop their own means of dealing with offending by their children and young persons:
(d) The principle that a child or young person who commits an offence should be kept in the community so far as that is practicable and consonant with the need to ensure the safety of the public:
(e) The principle that a child’s or young person’s age is a mitigating factor in determining—
(i) Whether or not to impose sanctions in respect of offending by a child or young person; and
(ii) The nature of any such sanctions:
(f) The principle that any sanctions imposed on a child or young person who commits an offence should—
(i) Take the form most likely to maintain and promote the development of the child or young person within [their] family, whanau, hapu, and family group; and
(ii) Take the least restrictive form that is appropriate in the circumstances:
(fa) The principle that any measures for dealing with offending by a child or young person should so far as it is practicable to do so address the causes underlying the child’s or young person’s offending:
(g) The principle that —
(i) in the determination of measures for dealing with offending by children or young persons, consideration should be given to the interests and views of any victims of the offending (for example, by encouraging the victims to participate in the processes under this Part for dealing with offending); and
(ii) any measures should have proper regard for the interests of any victims of the offending and the impact of the offending on them:
(h) The principle that the vulnerability of children and young persons entitles a child or young person to special protection during any investigation relating to the commission or possible commission of an offence by that child or young person.

Question 19

Must Know- Section 214 – Arrest of child or young person without warrant. before I arrest a child or young person what are the three things s I must consider?

Answer 19

(a) That it is necessary to arrest that child or young person without warrant for the purpose of

– (i) Ensuring the appearance of the child or young person before the Court; or

(ii) Preventing that child or young person from committing further offences; or
(iii) Preventing the loss or destruction of evidence relating to an offence committed by the child or young person or an offence that the enforcement officer has reasonable cause to suspect that child or young person of having committed,

or preventing interference with any witness in respect of any such offence;

and (b) Where the child or young person may be proceeded against by way of summons, that proceeding by way of summons would not achieve that purpose.

Question 20

Must Know - Section 214 – Arrest of child or young person without warrant. sub section 2 outlined two occasions where arrest would more likely be accepted.. What are they

Answer 20

(a) The constable has reasonable cause to suspect that the child or young person has committed a category 4 offence or category 3 offence for which the maximum penalty available is or includes imprisonment for life or for at least 14 years,

and (b) The constable believes, on reasonable grounds, that the arrest of the child or young person is required in the public interest.

Question 21

Must Know - Section 214 – Arrest of child or young person without warrant. If I arrest a child or young person, what must I do?

Answer 21

Within 3 days report to the commissioner.

(3) Every enforcement officer who arrests a child or young person without warrant shall, within 3 days of making the arrest, furnish a written report – (a) Where that enforcement officer is a constable, to the Commissioner of Police out lining the reason for the arrest.

Question 22

Must Know- Section 214A – Arrest of child or young person in breach of bail condition. What needs to exist before I can arrest a child or young person for breach of bail?

Answer 22

(a) the child or young person has been released on bail; and (b) the constable believes, on reasonable grounds, that —
(i) the child or young person has breached a condition of that bail; and
(ii) the child or young person has on 2 or more previous occasions breached a condition of that bail (whether or not the same condition) Must do a 6D file, add further occurrences to the 6D file.

Does not apply to historic bail breaches.

Question 23

Must Know - Section 214A – Arrest of child or young person in breach of bail condition.Authority to arrest a child or young person for breach of bail must always be obtained from who?

Answer 23

Authority to arrest under this provision must always be obtained from a Youth Aid Sergeant in the first instance, or in their absence, a supervising Sergeant (or above) or a qualified Youth Aid Officer.

Question 24

Section 214A – Arrest of child or young person in breach of bail condition. Where must a child or young person arrested for breach of bail be placed?

Answer 24

A constable who arrests a child or young person under s214A, and who believes on reasonable grounds that they are likely to continue to breach any condition of bail, must place the child or young person in the custody of the Chief Executive in accordance with

Question 25

Must know - Section 215/216/217– Child or young person to be informed of rights before questioned by enforcement officer/ when decision to charge or arrest. What are those rights?

Answer 25

Tidy up -

(a) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, if the circumstances are such that the enforcement officer would have power to arrest the child or young person without warrant, that the child or young person may be arrested if, by refusing to give his or her name and address to the enforcement officer, the child or young person cannot be served with a summons;

and (b) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, that the child or young person is not obliged to accompany the enforcement officer to any place for the purpose of being questioned, and that if the child or young person consents to do so, that he or she may withdraw that consent at any time; and

(c) That the child or young person is under no obligation to make or give any statement; and (d) That if the child or young person consents to make or give a statement, the child or young person may withdraw that consent at any time; and (e) That any statement made or given may be used in evidence in any proceedings; and (f) That the child or young person is entitled to consult with, and make or give any statement in the presence of, a barrister or solicitor and any person nominated by the child or young person in accordance with section 222 of this Act. (2) Nothing in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section applies where the child or young person is under arrest.

Question 26

How should I give those rights?

Answer 26

Explanations to be given in manner and language appropriate to age and level of understanding of child or young person

Question 27

Must Know- Section 219 – Explanations not required if child or young person already informed of rights. Tell me about the exception to this?

Answer 27

any explanation to be given to a child or young person if the same explanation has been given to the child or young person not earlier than 1 hour before the later explanation would, apart from this section, be required to be given.

Question 28

Must Know - Section 221 – Admissibility of statements made by children and young persons. What three things are vital?

Answer 28

(a) Before the statement was made or given, the enforcement officer has explained in a manner and in language that is appropriate to the age and level of understanding of the child or young person,
(b) Where the child or young person wishes to consult with a barrister or solicitor and any person nominated by that child or young person in accordance with section 222 of this Act, or either of those persons, before making or giving the statement, the child or young person consults with those persons or, as the case requires, that person; and
(c) The child or young person makes or gives the statement in the presence of one or more of the following persons:
(i) A barrister or solicitor:
(ii) Any person nominated by the child or young person in accordance with section 222 of this Act:
(iii) Where the child or young person refuses or fails to nominate any person in accordance with section 222 of this Act,

– (A) Any person referred to in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of section 222(1) of this Act;

or (B) Any other adult (not being an enforcement officer).

Question 29

Section 222 – Persons who may be nominated. Who are they?

Answer 29

(a) A parent or guardian of the child or young person:
(b) An adult member of the family, whanau, or family group of the child or young person:
(c) Any other adult selected by the child or young person:
(d) If the child or young person refuses or fails to nominate any person referred to in any of paragraphs (a) to (c) of this subsection, any adult (not being an enforcement officer) nominated for the purpose by an enforcement officer.

Question 30

Section 222 – Persons who may be nominated. On what grounds may I refuse to a person nominated by the young person as a support person?

Answer 30

would attempt, or would be likely to attempt, to pervert the course of justice; or

(b) Cannot with reasonable diligence be located, or will not be available within a period of time that is reasonable in the circumstances, –

Question 31

Must Know - Spontaneous admission before rights given, is this statement admissible?

Answer 31

oral statement made by a child or young person spontaneously and before enforcement officer has had a reasonable opportunity to comply with the requirements is admissible

Question 32

Must Know- Section 229 – Who must I inform when a child or young person is at an agency office for questioning or is arrested ?

Answer 32

Parents or guardians or other persons to be informed where child or young person at enforcement agency office for questioning in relation to commission or possible commission of offence or is arrested.

Question 33

What does this section not cover?

Answer 33

(3) Nothing in subsection (2)(c) of this section entitles any person to consult privately with a child or young person (being a child or young person who has been arrested) – (a) In the absence of any enforcement officer who is for the time being guarding that child or young person; or (b) Otherwise than subject to such reasonable conditions as may be necessary to ensure the safety of the child or young person or to prevent the commission of any offence.

Question 34

What is the duty of a nominated person?

Answer 34

(4) It is the duty of any person nominated pursuant to subsection (1) of this section –
(a) To take reasonable steps to ensure that the child or young person understands the matters explained to the child or young person under section 221(2)(a) of this Act; and
(b) To support the child or young person –
(i) Before and during any questioning; and
(ii) If the child or young person agrees to make or give any statement, during the making or giving of the statement.

Question 35

Must Know- Section 233 – Breath-alcohol and blood- alcohol provisions of Land Transport Act 1998. How do these rights affect EBA

Answer 35

They don’t apply

Question 36

Must know- Section 234 – Custody of child or young person following arrest. What three options do I have?

Answer 36

(a) Release the child or young person; or
(b) Where the child or young person may be released on bail under section 21 of the Bail Act 2000, release the child or young person on bail; or
(c) Deliver the child or young person into the custody of—
(i) Any parent or guardian or other person having the care of the child or young person; or
(ii) With the agreement of the child or young person, any Iwi Social Service or Cultural Social Service; or
(iii) With the agreement of the child or young person, any other person or organisation approved by the chief executive or a constable for the purpose

Question 37

Section 235 - Child or young person who is arrested may be placed in custody of chief executive. How long before the child or young person in place in the chief executives custody?

Answer 37

Must do so as soon as practicable and not later than 24 hours after the arrest.

Question 38

Must Know- Section 235 - Child or young person who is arrested may be placed in custody of chief executive. To use this section I must believe on reasonable grounds that…..

Answer 38

1. Non appearance
2. Necessary to prevent the loss or destruction of evidence.
3. Prevent interference with any witness
4. arrested under section 214A and is likely to continue to breach bail.

Question 39

Section 235 - Child or young person who is arrested may be placed in custody of chief executive. What information must I provide to Chief executive or delegate?

Answer 39

1. The identity of the child or young person;
2. The circumstances of the arrest of the child or young person; and
3. Details of the court appearance.

Question 40

Section 235 - Child or young person who is arrested may be placed in custody of chief executive.What should this section not be used for ?

Answer 40

constable believes that any child or young person is in need of care or protection - Use other powers -

Question 41

Section 236 - Young person who is arrested may be detained in Police custody. What are the grounds for the child or young person to be held in police custody longer than 24 hours, 2 grounds.

Answer 41

That a young person who has been arrested is likely to abscond or be violent; and

That suitable facilities for the detention in safe custody of that young person are not available to the chief executive,—

Question 42

Must Know Section 236 - Young person who is arrested may be detained in Police custody. What must occur for the child or young person to be held in police custody longer than 24 hours,

Answer 42

S/Sgt or above and a delegate will sign a joint certificate to exceed 24 hours and until the next court appearance.

Question 43

Must know - Section 236 - Young person who is arrested may be detained in Police custody. How must this be reported?

Answer 43

within 5 days constable report to the Commissioner of Police— covering circumstances including duration.

Question 44

Case Law - The appellant was visited by a social welfare officer, who was acting on a place of safety warrant under s 39 Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989. When looking in cupboards for food cannabis was found that lead to the discovery of a larger amount. What was the outcome of the appeal?

Answer 44

Held- For police:

It is not just to search for and to remove the child but to gather information for to see if the child should be removed. in appropriate circumstances, governed by concerns for the welfare of the child as reflected in the criteria under s 39 Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989, the holder of a warrant under s 39 may check the supplies of food in the house and open cupboards for that purpose.

Question 45

Case law Section 42 Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989 Search without Warrant, Warrant for drugs executed. Manufacturing meth, children at the warrant were removed under section 42. Tell me about the case law?

Answer 45

Held for suspect:

it was not critically necessary to protect them from injury or death.

The very high threshold for intervention without warrant under s 42, namely a belief that removal is critically necessary to protect a child from injury or death, is to be contrasted with the lower threshold for intervention with a warrant under ss 39 or 40.

Question 46

Case Law - Detention under s 48. This is where a drunk child was removed from private property, gave his details and those of his grandmother where he lived. He was taken to the police station cells where he punched a police officer and was charged with assault?. Tell me about this.

Answer 46

Held for the child:

Although police have an express power under s 48 to use such force as may reasonably be necessary in delivering the child or young person to the persons stipulated in the section, police ought to minimise potentially harmful experiences, such as being exposed to other adult prisoners in police cells and or being placed in a high security environment.

The Court found that: • Police acted reasonably in taking the youth to the station as an intermediate step in returning him to his grandmother or, failing her agreement to take him, to his being placed in the custody of a social worker.

• Police failed to consider the youth’s interests in choosing to take him through the secure entrance (cell block area) to the police station, given that he was cooperating at the time.
• By taking the youth into the secure area, police detained the youth beyond their lawful authority, which was to deliver him into the care of a parent, guardian or caregiver. The use of the secure area of the station would only be justified in the event that reasonable force became necessary to deliver him into the care of the appropriate person.
• Police failed to ascertain whether the youth preferred to be returned home or to a social worker.
• There was no evidence that police informed the youth as to why he was being detained, and it was not unlikely that the youth considered he was under arrest.
• The police suggestion that further inquiries were necessary indicated that police were blurring the purpose of the youth’s presence in the police station. It was wrong to detain the youth beyond the purposes of s 48 so as to perform an investigation, where police were purporting to rely on s 48 for the detention.
• Police had no need to question the youth, as they had the information that they required to return the youth to the appropriate person.

Question 47

Case law – Arrest guidelines under s 214, s 48. A number of burglaries had been reported, child found in early hours of the morning. Police evoked section 48 and interviewed him about the burglaries 3 weeks later he was interviewed again and a statement taken. What occurred in this case?

Answer 47

Section 48 was wrongly used!

Before the matter proceeded to a defended hearing, the police sought leave to withdraw the charges, acknowledging that there were problems with the police case.

In his written decision on the issue of costs Judge Boshier commented on the fact that when arresting a child or young person (‘CYP’) the police must find a demonstrable need to arrest as limited by s 214 CYPF Act.

In his decision the Judge gave the following guidelines to assist frontline police when deciding whether or not to arrest a CYP.

1 Section 48 should not be used by police officers for the sole purpose of taking into custody a CYP who is suspected of having committed a crime.

The section is limited in its scope and is meant only to apply to unaccompanied CYP’s that need to be placed in a situation of safety. 2 If a police officer believes that a CYP has committed an offence, arrest may be considered but only if section 214 of the Act would permit it.

Section 214 provides that a CYP is not to be arrested unless the officer is satisfied on reasonable grounds that the arrest is necessary for:

(i) Ensuring the appearance of the CYP before the Court; or
(ii) Preventing the CYP from committing further offences; or
(iii) Preventing the loss or destruction of evidence or preventing interference with witnesses.

[NB. The section also provides that if the offence committed is purely indictable and the public interest requires an arrest be made, then a police officer may arrest a CYP without warrant.] 3 Section 208 of the CYPF Act requires that criminal proceedings should not be initiated unless there are no other means of dealing with a matter and any proceedings taken must take the least restrictive form appropriate to the circumstances. 4 ………

5 Police may not arrest a young person simply as a means of requiring a young person to face the consequences of offending in a Youth Court This is in contrast to adults who may be arrested for this purpose.

6 Generally, unless the CYP is arrested as permitted by section 214, police officers encountering criminal offending by a child or young person must consult a Youth Justice Coordinator with a view to convening a Family Group Conference before the laying of charges in a Youth Court is contemplated. It is one of the roles of the FGC to discuss the offending and decide whether information should be laid (s 245 CYPF Act).

Question 48

Case Law - 214 and detention in police custody. Child who was on a supervision order for 17 charges was caught by an off duty officer shoplifting? He was brought to court more than 24 hours later. Police submitted that his detention was required to stop further offending. What was held?

Answer 48

Held for the suspect: The continuation of the arrest unnecessarily was in breach of the letter and the spirit of s 214 of the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act (the Act). While the initial arrest might have been justified by the fact that the defendant was trying to escape, the time-frame in question must be the time between the arrest and when the defendant could be brought to Court.

The mere fact that the defendant had other charges and was the subject of a supervision order did not mean that he could be arrested whenever he re- offended.

A single charge of shoplifting was not such as to suggest that the defendant without arrest would continue shoplifting or commit any other offence.

(2) Failure to bring the defendant to Court constituted a breach of the young person’s rights under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act to have the matter dealt with on the same day. A person arrested in the morning ought to be dealt with that afternoon except possibly in unusual circumstances.
(3) The fact that the young person had spent 24 hours in police custody including a night in police cells was a serious breach of the law. Given the very limited grounds for the Court to remand a young person in police custody under s 239(2) of the Act, the police should be particularly careful not to hold young persons in custody unnecessarily.

Question 49

Case Law - s 215s 223K E (E) and A T (T) were charged with aggravated robbery and aggravated wounding. Both were 14 years old at the time of the alleged offending. When speaking to T at home as a witness he became nervous and upset and was told he did not have to say anymore. He was not given 215 caution During the interview break at the police station the mother who was the support person told him to say he was not there. Police suggested she be replaced, she was. What was the outcome?

Answer 49

In the District Court, the judge ruled that the first part of E’s statement was admissible, but that as police had failed to restate E’s rights to him after his support person changed, the balance of the interview was inadmissible under s 30 of the Evidence Act 2006.

The judge ruled that T’s initial statement at home was inadmissible as the police officer should have issued a warning under s 215 of the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act on observing his suspicious behaviour. Section 215 of the CYPFA requires that an explanation must be given “before the statement was made or given”.

T’s later explanations did not involve a breach of CYPFA by failing to give the necessary explanations, but rather raised the issue of whether in all the circumstances the obtaining of the later admissions were unfair, given that the first admission was elicited without a s 215 explanation.

Question 50

Case Law s 222 and choice of nominated person. Child was a suspect for a homicide, Father was a potential alibi witness. When to the station to talk but was not cautioned he didn’t have to. The father said he did not know where K’s mother lived but did have an adult daughter who lived with him. Police then determined that it would be better to bring in an independent person. The child admitted the offending and took-part in a video reconstruction. What happened.

Answer 50

“In failing, however, to ask the appellant to choose which family member of adult he wished to support him, the police dispensed with a procedure that was central to the statutory scheme.

As already indicated, a failure to that degree puts the police outside of the scope of the broad coverage of reasonable compliance with s 221(2)(c), under s 224.

The support role that could reasonably be expected of a fair minded stranger is not what the legislature had in mind, other than in situations where the young person refused or failed to nominate someone to whom he or she was close to or at least known. Nor do we accept that the Act contemplates that judgments should be made by the police as to the suitability of family members for the role, by reference to whether they have custody or care of the child or not.” When informing a child or young person of their right to have a nominated adult present during an interview, it is not for police to veto their choice of adult, unless that person would attempt (or be likely to attempt) to pervert the course of justice, see s 222(2)(a), or cannot with reasonable diligence be found, or will not be available within a period of time that is reasonable in the circumstances, see s 222(2)(b). The police should only nominate an adult when the child or young person refuses to do so, see s 222(1)(d), or when s 222(2)(a) or (b) is satisfied and the child or young person has no one else that they wish to nominate.

Question 51

Case Law - Spontaneous admissions- s 223 This is where the child cautioned but was told that police were not going to charge him with offences and he subsequently had admissions of aggravated robberies .

Answer 51

On the first issue, the High Court said it was a question of fact whether a statement can be construed as ‘spontaneous’, as entirely without external stimulus or constraint.

The Court held that the offer of immunity plainly influenced S’s decision to point out and explain where the aggravated robberies occurred and, in that sense, his admissions were not made spontaneously.

The ‘spontaneous’ provisions of section 223 therefore did not provide an exemption from the conditions of admissibility stipulated by section 221(2) (which include the requirement for a statement to be made in the presence of a barrister, solicitor or nominated person).

On the second issue, the High Court found that the non-spontaneous admissions of aggravated robbery were the effective cause of the officer’s continuing interview and particularly the part that occurred at the police station when the formal admissions to that aggravated robberies were videotaped. That evidence was therefore excluded also.

Comment Staff wishing to resolve cases by seeking admissions and indicating an intention not to charge should ensure that they are very specific about the boundaries of that offer.