Part 4: Police Powers Chapter 3: Powers Under PACE: Miscellaneous Section 79: Definition of "appropriate adult" in criminal justice legislation
Section 63B of PACE provides for taking a sample of urine or non-intimate sample (see section 73 above) from a person in police detention for the purposes of testing for the presence of Class A drugs. Section 63B(5A) of PACE provides that if the person is a child, such testing may only take place in the presence of an appropriate adult.
	Section 63B(10)(c) of PACE provides that a police officer or person employed by the police cannot be an appropriate adult in this context. Subsection (1) widens this restriction so that anyone employed for, or engaged on, police purposes cannot be an appropriate adult. This restriction will apply to any police officers, police civilian staff, contractors or volunteers engaged in police activities.
	Section 66ZA of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, on giving youth cautions, requires that the caution be given in the presence of a parent or guardian or other "appropriate adult" (as determined by PACE). Subsection (2) amends the definition of appropriate adult in section 66ZA in a similar manner as subsection (1).
	Section 161 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, which concerns pre-sentence drug testing, requires, in the case of a person under 17, that an order under section 161(2) to provide a sample must take place in the presence of an "appropriate adult". Subsection (3) amends the definition of appropriate adult in similar manner as subsection (1).