Children Act 2001

Notification to solicitor.

60

60.—(1) Where a child who is in custody in a Garda Síochána station has asked for a solicitor, the member in charge of the station shall notify the solicitor or cause him or her to be notified accordingly as soon as practicable.

(2) Where the solicitor cannot be contacted within a reasonable time or is unwilling or unable to attend at the station, the child shall be so informed and given an opportunity to ask for another solicitor, and the member in charge shall notify or cause to be notified that other solicitor accordingly as soon as practicable.

(3) Subsections (1) and (2) shall also apply in relation to a request for a solicitor for the child by any parent, guardian, adult relative, any adult reasonably named by the child or other adult (not being a member of the Garda Síochána) who is present, in accordance with section 61(1)(b), during the questioning of the child or the taking of a written statement.

(4) Where the child is being transferred to another station, the member in charge of the station from which the child is being transferred shall notify any solicitor who has been notified under this section or cause him or her to be notified of the transfer as soon as practicable.

(5) Where a solicitor (other than a named solicitor) has been requested by or on behalf of a child, the member in charge shall give the person making the request or cause him or her to be given the name of one or more than one solicitor whom the member in charge reasonably believes may be willing to attend at the station within a reasonable time.