Abdul Aziz Mohamad JCA:

The question to be decided in the appeal before us, which was the Public Prosecutor's, was whether the detention of a child for purposes of investigations should be under the Child Act 2001 or under s. 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC). The Public Prosecutor maintained that it should be under s. 117 of the CPC, which provides as follows in sub-s. (1) and the first sentence of sub-s. (2):

(1) Whenever any person is arrested and detained in custody and it appears that the investigation cannot be completed within the period of twenty-four hours fixed by section 28 and there are grounds for believing that the accusation or information is well founded the police officer making the investigation shall immediately transmit to a Magistrate a copy of the entries in the diary hereinafter prescribed relating to the case and shall at the same time produce the accused before the Magistrate.

(2) The Magistrate before whom an accused person is produced under this section may, whether he has or has not jurisdiction to try the case, from time to time authorize the detention of the accused in such custody as the Magistrate thinks fit for a term not exceeding fifteen days in the whole ...

The section falls under Part V of the CPC, entitled "Information to Police and their Powers to Investigate". At the time a detention is authorized under that section, the case is still at the investigation stage. The detention is to enable investigations to be completed. The person detained is not yet ready to be charged, and no charge would have been drawn up or preferred.

The provisions of the Child Act 2001 that were resorted to or cited in this case are ss. 83(1), 84 and 86. Those sections appear in Part X of the Act, entitled "Criminal Procedure in Court For Children". Part X consists of four chapters: Chapter 1 (Charge, Bail, etc.); Chapter 2 (Trials); Chapter 3 (Powers of the Court For Children at the Conclusion of the Trial); Chapter 4 (Probation). The titles of Part X and of its four chapters indicate that Part X is concerned with the treatment of a child who is ready to be charged and tried. The three sections are to be found in Chapter 1.

Section 83(1) provides as follows:

Notwithstanding anything contained in any written law relating to the arrest, detention and trial of persons committing any offence but subject to subsections (3) and (4), a child who is alleged to have committed an offence shall not be arrested, detained or tried except in accordance with this Act.

It may be, mentioned, in connection with the arrest, detention and trial of a child having to be "in accordance with this Act", that the Act provides nowhere else but in Part X for matters concerning the arrest of a child for committing an offence, for his detention following arrest and for his eventual trial.

Section 84 provides as follows:

(1) If a child is arrested with or without a warrant, the child shall be brought before a Court For Children within twenty-four hours exclusive of the time necessary for the journey from the place of arrest to the Court For Children.

(2) If it is not possible to bring a child before a Court For Children within the time specified in subsection (1), the child shall be brought before a Magistrate who may direct that the child be remanded in a place of detention until such time as the child can be brought before the Court For Children.

(3) The Court For Children before whom a child is brought shall inquire into the case and unless:

(a) the charge is one of murder or other grave crime;

(b) it is necessary in the best interests of the child arrested to remove him from association with any undesirable person; or

(c) the Court For Children has reason to believe that the release of the child would defeat the ends of justice,

the Court For Children shall release the child on a bond, with or without sureties, for such amount as will, in the opinion of the Court For Children, secure the attendance of that child upon the h