Sun Xueling on Appropriate Adults for young suspects and persons with mental disabilities

Appropriate Adults (AAs) are currently activated for all cases involving young suspects below 16 years old and where the Investigation Officer assesses that the suspect is a person with mental disability. The Government is in the midst of implementing the increased age threshold for the Appropriate Adult Scheme for Young Suspects to include those aged 16 and 17 years. This will be done in phases and has started from Apr 1 this year. Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling said this in reply to an MP’s questions in Parliament on Friday (Apr 21). She said that in the past five years, AAs have been successfully activated for all cases where the law enforcement agencies have requested for them. There may be extenuating circumstances which require law enforcement agencies to exercise discretion not to activate an AA for the interview. These include the need to prevent the disposal of evidence or commission of another offence. As of December 2022, there were 359 active volunteers for the Appropriate Adult Scheme for Young Suspects and 328 for the Appropriate Adult Scheme for Persons with Mental Disabilities, she said.