Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016

22 Under 18s to be kept in place of safety prior to court

(1) Subsection (2) applies when—

(a) a person is to be brought before a court in accordance with section 21(2), and

(b) either—

(i) a constable believes the person is under 16 years of age, or

(ii) the person is subject to a compulsory supervision order, or an interim compulsory supervision order, made under the Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011.

(2) The person must (unless released from custody under section 25) be kept in a place of safety until the person can be brought before the court.

(3) The place of safety in which the person is kept must not be a police station unless an appropriate constable certifies that keeping the person in a place of safety other than a police station would be—

(a) impracticable,

(b) unsafe, or

(c) inadvisable due to the person’s state of health (physical or mental).

(4) A certificate under subsection (3) must be produced to the court when the person is brought before it.

(5) In this section—

• “an appropriate constable” means a constable of the rank of inspector or above,

• “place of safety” has the meaning given in section 202(1) of the Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011.