Lawyers: Cops should inform parents if quizzing kids

Parents or guardians must be informed before a child is questioned by the police as the child does not have the capacity to make decisions in a legal context, lawyers said. 

Although the Child Act 2001 is silent on this matter, they said the child is still protected under the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), which allows individuals the choice to abstain from answering police questions. 

“If a child is required to give a statement under Section 112 of the CPC, the child has a right and the police are obliged explain to the child until they are satisfied that the child understands (his or her right),” said Bar Council president Christopher Leong(right). 

“In practical terms, parents must be present as otherwise the police cannot be sure that the children understand they can choose not to answer a question.”

This is especially in the case of young children, who may also not be able to discern if a question could incriminate them, he explained. 

He said that, in the case of SK Seri Pristana where parents have claimed that pupils were questioned by police without their knowledge, the teacher or principal should have called the parents as “it was not a matter of emergency”. 

Lawyer Syahredzan Johan(left), who has dealt with criminal cases involving children, said that the spirit of the Child Act is to protect the child.

As such parents or guardians must be informed even if the principal or a teacher is present. 

“The Act also indicates that the person to inform upon an arrest is a parent or a guardian, so in this case, the headmaster is not enough to ensure the welfare of the child,” he said. 

Senior criminal lawyer V Sithambaram said parents are usually informed by convention, even though it is not explicitly stated in investigation rules. 

“A child can be threatened to say things, and may believe what he or she is told especially if the person telling him or her claims to be a police (personnel),” he said. 

A group of parents whose children attend SK Seri Pristana have claimed that their children are traumatised from the questioning which allegedly happened on school grounds, without their knowledge. 

They also claimed that an unidentified man was accompanied by the principal to photograph their children. 

Police have denied that its personnel had questioned the children, and also that it is not an offence to photograph a minor without parental consent. 

Leong said that, while it is true that there is no law barring the photographing of children without parental consent, the school is “ethics-bound” to inform parents that this is happening. 

“It depends on what the picture is used for. For example, is it for a yearbook? The (principal) can only permit photographs to be taken of students for school purposes,” he added. 

“He is overstepping his authority if he allows the children to be photographed by anyone for any other purpose.” 

Education Ministry ‘should step in’

Sithambaram also urged the Education Ministry to look into the matter which has dragged on for a month, following the expose that the children were made to eat in a shower room. 

“The (shower room) incident happened, and now we hear of other things happening without the consent of the parents. Then someone is to be charged with criminal intimidation. What is a resonable person to conclude?” he asked. 

The principal has previously explained that the room was converted into a mini-canteen, as the actual canteen is too small. He said non-Muslims ate there during Ramadan last month as the canteen was under renovation then. 

On Monday, a parent of a student was arrested for allegedly issuing a death threat against the principal and is expected to be charged for criminal intimidation next month.