Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Act 2019 - child interview rights practitioners: question and answer guide

Initial contact and arrangements

How and when will I be contacted to be allocated a role as a ChIRP in a specific case?

A member of the Scottish Government Age of Criminal Responsibility (ACR) Review Team will phone you as soon as they become aware of a request for a ChIRP within the local authority area in which you have agreed to provide cover.

When you confirm you are able to support the child, the Scottish Government official will provide you with the Police Scotland contact details and Police Scotland with your contact details.

How will the Scottish Government manage out of hours requests for a ChIRP?

Police Scotland will make immediate contact with the Scottish Government in line with the procedure for all incidents requiring the assistance of a ChIRP. Police Scotland should initiate contact with the Scottish Government's ChIRP Duty Officer by sending an email to ChIRPDuty1@OnPage.com. Duty cover is provided by the Scottish Government from 08:00 to 18:00 every day.

The Scottish Government official will assess the urgency for contacting a ChIRP and contact a member on the register of ChIRPs for the relevant local authority area. The Scottish Government invites you to make them aware of periods of unavailability, for example, annual leave as this allows the Scottish Government to plan coverage and prioritise contact with those who are known to be available.

If there is an incident involving more than one child, who will tell me which child, I am allocated?

Subject to data protection legislation, the Scottish Government official will provide you with as much relevant information as they can when they initially get in touch; including contact details for the lead police contact who will be able to confirm the details of the child and incident.

Who will provide me with the details to contact the child and incident information?

Police Scotland will provide you with relevant information about the child and the incident, subject to data protection requirements. This will likely constitute relevant information held on police systems and from records held by other agencies, for example, the relevant local authority and health board. In most circumstances relevant information will also be obtained from education providers.

Does a child have any choice in choosing the ChIRP (such as gender of the ChIRP)?

In keeping with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), as far as possible, a child's views should be taken into consideration. Police Scotland should make Scottish Government aware of any preferences indicated by the child. The Scottish Government will do what it can to meet these preferences, however, choice of gender of the ChIRP cannot always be guaranteed.

How long will the whole process take to conclude?

The time between initial contact by the Scottish Government and you being appointed as a ChIRP to a child following an incident, to conclusion of the investigative interview can be time consuming. The planning process between Police Scotland and social work should be thorough, so the urgency and time required for your involvement will vary on a case-by-case basis. If the interview is under a child interview order, then it must be conducted within the period as specified on the Order, which could be up to 7 days (beginning with the day after the day on which the order is made or such later day as is specified in the child interview order)^[1].