CHILDREN (CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS) ACT 1987 - SECT 13 Admissibility of certain statements etc

CHILDREN (CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS) ACT 1987 - SECT 13

13 Admissibility of certain statements etc

(1) Any statement, confession, admission or information made or given to a member of the police force by a child who is a party to criminal proceedings shall not be admitted in evidence in those proceedings unless--

(a) there was present at the place where, and throughout the period of time during which, it was made or given--

(i) a person responsible for the child,

(ii) an adult (other than a member of the police force) who was present with the consent of the person responsible for the child,

(iii) in the case of a child who is of or above the age of 14 years--an adult (other than a member of the police force) who was present with the consent of the child, or

(iv) an Australian legal practitioner of the child's own choosing, or

(b) the person acting judicially in those proceedings--

(i) is satisfied that there was proper and sufficient reason for the absence of such an adult from the place where, or throughout the period of time during which, the statement, confession, admission or information was made or given, and

(ii) considers that, in the particular circumstances of the case, the statement, confession, admission or information should be admitted in evidence in those proceedings.

(2) In this section--

(a) a reference to a person acting judicially includes a reference to a person making a determination as to the admissibility of evidence in committal proceedings, and

(b) a reference to criminal proceedings is a reference to any criminal proceedings in which a person is alleged to have committed an offence while a child or which arise out of any other criminal proceedings in which a person is alleged to have committed an offence while a child, and

(c) a reference to a person responsible for a child does not include a member of the police force (unless he or she has parental responsibility for the child).

(3) Nothing in this section limits or affects the admissibility in evidence in any criminal proceedings against a child of any statement or information that the child is required to make or give by virtue of the provisions of any Act or law.