Inappropriate Adults? A Review of the Current Use of Appropriate Adults in the Criminal Justice System (original) (raw)
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Vulnerable adults in police custody
The Journal of Adult Protection
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the recent National Appropriate Adult Network (NAAN) report on the role of the appropriate adult. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on the NAAN report and a review of relevant policy and research literature. Findings There to Help 2 highlights that there are still significant gaps in the provision of appropriate adult schemes across England and Wales. These gaps potentially place vulnerable adults at increased risk. Originality/value This paper is a review of recent research.
This article examines the treatment of vulnerable suspects in police custody, with particular emphasis upon how the police define vulnerability in relation to adult suspects. Drawing upon qualitative data produced through observation of and interviews with COs at a custody suite in England, the article will explore why the appropriate adult (AA) safeguard is often left unimplemented. It builds upon previous research on the identification of vulnerability, but goes further by also addressing how vulnerability is defined. In discussion, this paper draws upon legalist, culturalist, and structuralist arguments to offer explanations for non-implementation of the AA safeguard.
Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health
Results: Appropriate adults were significantly more likely to remain passive than to intervene, even when current guidance would suggest intervention. When they did intervene, however, such interventions were significantly more likely than not to follow from guidance and the vulnerable suspect's needs. Conclusions/Implications for practice: In our sample, appropriate adults were not fulfilling their role as outlined in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984 and accompanying Codes of Practice, specifically, they appeared to know what to do but not when to do it. There is a heightened risk of a miscarriage of justice in such circumstances without improvements.
Ensuring 'appropriate' protections for young suspects
2015
The book is the result of the first part of the European Commission funded research project 'Protecting young suspects in interrogations: a study on safeguards and best practice'. The legal study underlying this volume consisted of comparative research into existing procedural safeguards for juvenile suspects during interrogation in the legal frameworks of five selected Member States of the European Union: Belgium, England and Wales, Italy, Poland and the Netherlands. In Chapter 3 are presented the comparative # findings in relation to England and Wales.
Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 2021
This article examines the purpose behind the provision of special measures—adaptations to courtroom formalities—to vulnerable or intimidated people giving evidence in criminal trials. It shows that fostering the principle of humane treatment and improving evidence quality were the initial motivations underpinning the introduction of special measures. The focus in this article is on the principle of humane treatment, and whether the current provision of special measures successfully fosters it. The article conceptualises the principle of humane treatment so that it can be used as the normative measure against which to evaluate the current provision of special measures to vulnerable witnesses and the accused. It concludes that the solely instrumental legal basis on which special measures are currently available risks insufficiently protecting vulnerable or intimidated participants from the harm and distress that the criminal trial often causes, and that this can amount to inhumane tre...
Children, Young People and Requests for Police Station Legal Advice: 25 years on from PACE
Youth Justice, 2011
Informed by data extracted from 30,921 police electronic custody records, drawn from 44 police stations across four police force areas and including 5153 records of juveniles aged 10 to 17 years, this article examines the take-up of legal advice by children and young people in police stations in England and Wales. There are wide variations in the extent to which juveniles request and receive legal advice when compared to adults but also between juveniles of different ages. Such variations are explored both in relation to the age of detainees and the type and seriousness of offence and case disposal. Also examined are variations based on different police force areas. The implications emanating from children’s differential access to legal advice at police stations are considered in relation to children’s rights.
Criminal Bar Association website, 2018
This constitutes the largest empirical study of the use of previous sexual behaviour evidence in sexual offence trials in the courts of England and Wales ever conducted. It is impossible to understand how such evidence is handled in trials merely from reading reported judgments, because these reflect only cases which the defence has appealed to the Court of Appeal on the basis that such evidence was wrongly excluded by the trial judge, since the prosecution does not have an equivalent right to seek leave to appeal. The data collected from criminal barristers examines, in depth, 377 cases involving 565 complainants, which proceeded to trial in 105 Crown Courts centres in the 24 months immediately prior to November 2017. This study is unique in collecting data on applications to use previous sexual behaviour evidence in respect of all sexual offences, not just rape, and without any restrictions on complainants as to gender or age. Many children and adolescents feature in the sample. So too do many historical complaints, and many cases involving multiple complainants. Perhaps most importantly, it is unique in eliciting information from the 140 anonymous barristers who were directly involved in prosecuting or defending these cases in the sample, and who know best what happened, not only in the public court room but also in the closed court room and in the robing room. They in turn are highly unusual in adversarial legal systems in ‘walking both sides of the street’, possible only due to the existence of the independent Bar, available to be instructed by the Crown Prosecution Service or by the defence in any case. They therefore have a uniquely balanced view of the criminal justice system. This is the complete text of the commissioned Report. A refereed article entitled "Cross-examination of sexual assault complainants on previous sexual behaviour: views from the barristers’ row" further analysing the results will be published in the Jan 2019 issue of the Criminal Law Review. The article will only be available on Westlaw to non-subscribers to the Crim LR.
Rapaport J. and Harris J (2010) 'Making decisions about who should be barred from working with adults in vulnerable situations: the need for social work understanding. British Journal of Social Work. 40(1):290-310. Abstract: This article reports on an element of recently completed research that aimed to explore factors leading to placement on the Protection of Vulnerable Adults (POVA) List, a unique barring list to England and Wales. A multiple methods approach was adopted, involving in-depth quantitative analysis of POVA referral records and a set of discussion groups and interviews investigating how decisions were being made. This article focuses on this latter element, setting out and discussing the overall schema for decision-making resulting from the analysis, which identified an interplay between emotional and moral responses to the individual referred and evidence about the alleged misconduct. The importance of involving all stakeholders in the development of such a decision-making system is raised through the research and the implications for social workers are explored. 2 Making Decisions about who should be barred from working with adults in vulnerable situations: the need for social work understanding