How the NICHD Protocol Leaves Children Room for Their Own Memories

Paris – 22/07/2026: In a quiet room, an interview does not begin with a question about suspicions, but with an invitation to talk. A report published on Wednesday by franceinfo focuses on the NICHD protocol, used by French investigative services when interviewing children. It is a crucial task: listening to minors without overlaying their words with adults’ expectations.

NICHD stands for the United States National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The protocol provides a fixed structure for interviews. First, the rules are explained: a child can say that they do not know, do not remember, or do not understand a question. They must also be able to correct the adult. Only then does the transition to the reason for the investigation take place.

At the heart of the method is the open-ended question. Rather than imposing details, specially trained officers must invite the child to describe, based on their own memories, what may have happened. Closed or leading questions should be avoided as much as possible. The French National Gendarmerie describes the objective as double protection: reducing suggestibility caused by questions and adapting the conduct of the interview to the child’s age and abilities.

This is more than a matter of an appropriate tone. Young people’s statements can be of great importance in criminal proceedings, while also being particularly vulnerable. The method therefore seeks to avoid turning an interview into an interrogation. Trust is built through neutral exchanges and by asking the child first to describe an everyday experience in detail. Children thus learn that they do not have to guess which answer is expected.

French criminal procedure also provides protective safeguards. Under Article 706-52 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the interview of minor victims for certain serious offences is, in principle, recorded audiovisually during the investigation. The recording should avoid repeated interviews as much as possible and allows the justice system to later retrace the course of the interview. It is confidential and may not be broadcast.

However, the NICHD protocol neither determines guilt nor replaces other investigations. Its task is more limited, but fundamental: to collect a statement with the greatest possible care. For years, scientific studies on structured interviews have concluded that open-ended invitations can lead to statements that are more detailed and more rooted in the person’s own memories than questions that already suggest the answers.

The current focus on this practice is a reminder that child protection also begins with language. For investigators, this requires discipline: patience rather than pressure, follow-up questions rather than interpretations. For children, it can mean that their words are not too quickly translated into the language of adults. Precisely where a statement may mark the beginning of proceedings, it is a matter of respect and rigor befitting the rule of law.