Polisförhör kan förstöra misstänkta barns framtid

In the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the European Convention, Swedish law and guidelines there are certain rights regarding juveniles suspected of a crime being interrogated by the police. The aim of this bachelor thesis is to develop a broader understanding about possible failures in upholding those rights. Further, what possible consequences it could mean for the suspected juveniles and the rule of law when the rights are not uphold. The bachelor thesis focuses on children between 15 and 17 years of age who are interrogated by the police in Sweden. The aim was reached by a combination of data from official documents, reports and interviews. The data were analysed by applying social control and the labelling theory with the purpose to fulfil the aim of the bachelor thesis. The analysis concluded that the interrogating officers have more knowledge and power than juveniles. Moreover, the interrogating officers sometimes label ju- veniles and therefore juveniles could start to believe that they committed the crime they are suspected of even if they did not. The authors of the bachelor thesis came to the conclusions that failures in upholding the rights do occur. For example children are often interrogated without a solicitor present. Due to the failures many possible consequences occur for the concerned children and the rule of law, es- pecially the risk of children being wrongly convicted or acquitted. The authors therefore point out the importance in decreasing failures in upholding the rights regarding suspected juveniles interrogated by the police