PART IV.  POLICING SITUATIONS purposes of judicial or administrative proceedings.297 The victim, witness or suspect should get a copy of their statements. Whenever children are interviewed, this should be carried out using specialized police officers trained in interviewing children, and their parents or custodians should be notified. No child should be interviewed without their parent or custodian present and if they are not available, an independent support person or other appropriate adult should be present. It is good practice to record all interviews with children. PRESUMPTION OF VULNERABILITY In New Zealand the law has introduced a “presumption of vulnerability”, which entitles children to special protection during any investigation relating to the commission or possible commission of an offence.a Under that law, the child must have an adult present during the interview, the adult must have the child’s rights explained to them and the adult and child are allowed to speak in private to decide what they will do. The child may decline to be interviewed and even if the child initially agrees to be interviewed, consent can be withdrawn at any time. Moreover, a statement that is not made in the presence of the adult is not admissible as evidence. a See Children, Young Persons and their Families Act 1989, s208(h). Suspects who are detained should not be held in facilities under the control of their interrogators or investigators for more than the required time under law to obtain a judicial warrant of pretrial detention. Article 9(3) of the ICCPR requires any person arrested or detained on a criminal charge to be brought promptly before a judge or other officer authorized by law to exercise judicial power. In its General Comment on article 9, the United Nations Human Rights Committee has noted that “48 hours is ordinarily sufficient to transport the individual and to prepare for the judicial hearing” and that “any delay longer than 48 hours must remain absolutely exceptional and be justified under the circumstances”.298 After this time, they should be transferred to a pre-trial facility under a different authority. This reduces the risk of abusive use of force, including torture and ill-treatment. The interrogation rules, instructions, methods and practices should be kept under systematic review.299 SOPs and instructions to law enforcement officials should include clear reference to the prohibition of the use of torture or other forms of ill-treatment.300 297  See Body of Principles, principle 23; General Comment No. 20, article 7, para.11; Osse, Anneke. Understanding Policing: a Resource for Human Rights Activists, Amnesty International, the Netherlands, 2006. 298  Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 35: article 9 (Liberty and security of the person), United Nations Doc CCPR/C/GC/35 (2014), para. 33. 299  See CAT, article 11. 300  See CAT, articles 10 and 16. 133