a juvenile has been detained (regardless of whether the juvenile requests that this be done); 2. Juveniles held in police custody 97. Bearing in mind its preventive mandate, the CPT’s priority during visits is to seek to establish whether juveniles deprived of their liberty have been subjected to ill-treatment. Regrettably, deliberate ill-treatment of juveniles by law enforcement ofcials has by no means been eradicated and remains a real concern in a number of European countries. CPT delegations continue to receive credible allegations of detained juveniles being ill-treated. The allegations often concern kicks, slaps, punches or blows with batons at the time of apprehension (even after the juvenile concerned has been brought under control), during transportation or subsequent questioning in law enforcement establishments. It is also not uncommon for juveniles to become victims of threats or verbal abuse (including of a racist nature) whilst in the hands of law enforcement agencies. 98. It is the period immediately following apprehension when persons are most at risk of ill-treatment. Therefore, the CPT has advocated three fundamental safeguards (namely the rights of detained persons to notify a close relative or another person of their detention and to have access to a lawyer and a doctor), which should apply from the very outset of deprivation of liberty (i.e. from the moment a person is frst obliged to remain with a law enforcement agency). Given their particular vulnerability, the CPT considers that juveniles held in police custody should always beneft from the following additional safeguards against ill-treatment: ► law enforcement ofcials should be under a formal obligation to ensure that a relative or another adult person trusted by the juvenile is notifed of the fact that General Report of the CPT, 2013-2014 ► Page 50 ► a detained juvenile should never be subjected to police questioning or be requested to make any statement or to sign any document concerning the ofence(s) he/she is suspected of having committed without the presence of a lawyer and, in principle, a trusted adult person (the option “does not wish to see a lawyer” should not apply to juveniles); ► a specifc information sheet setting out the above-mentioned safeguards should be given to all juveniles taken into custody immediately upon their arrival at a law enforcement establishment. The information sheet must be childfriendly, written in simple and clear language and available in a variety of languages. Special care should be taken to ensure that juveniles fully understand the information. 99. The CPT considers that nobody should be held in law enforcement establishments for prolonged periods as such establishments normally do not provide suitable conditions and an appropriate regime. Moreover, experience has shown that persons in police custody are more vulnerable and often run a higher risk of being subjected to torture or other forms of ill-treatment. It follows that even greater eforts should be made to keep the detention in law enforcement establishments to a minimum for juveniles. In some countries, juveniles continue to be held in police stations for periods of ten days or more; such practices are unacceptable. The CPT considers that, as a rule, juveniles should not be held in a law enforcement establishment for more than 24 hours. Further, every efort should