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This paper describes the current guidance in the Police and Criminal Evidence (NI) Order and associated codes of practice as they relate to the detention and questioning of juveniles and vulnerable adults. The provision of appropriate adults services is described with reference to a recent research study and recommendations made in the Criminal Justice Review, commissioned as part of the Good Friday Agreement.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the outcome of referrals made to one police force in England by three local authorities between March 2010 and April 2011, in order to identify and understand the barriers to prosecuting suspects of abuse or harm against vulnerable adults, and improve inter-agency co-operation.

All referrals to this police force are given a crime number when they are recorded on the Criminal Justice System database together with a vulnerable adult flag and a status code which indicates the outcome following a police investigation. A search of the database using the vulnerable adult flag identifies the total number of referrals and outcomes for the selected period. This can then be imported into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to allow further analysis to take place.

Over 87 per cent of all referrals of alleged abuse to vulnerable adults made to this police force did not establish that a crime had been committed. Of those that did only 1 per cent resulted in either a caution or court proceedings.

This is a small sample from one, predominantly rural, police force.

The benefit of this research is that it contributes to a greater knowledge of the outcomes of adult safeguarding referrals made, primarily, by local authorities to the police and how police disclosures, on Disclosure and Barring Service checks, are being used as a means of providing employers of regulated activities with information on individuals who have been suspected of abusing vulnerable adults.

This paper's aim is to examine the interaction between an intermediary, a vulnerable defendant and barristers and the judge in a courtroom. The paper seeks to consider how the communication needs of vulnerable defendants, such as those with learning disabilities, should be addressed in the criminal justice system.

The paper considers the legal landscape for dealing with vulnerable defendants. A case example and court and police interview transcripts are then used to illustrate some of the communication needs of vulnerable people in the criminal justice system.

The paper highlights the complexities of the language that is used by lawyers in the courtroom and the difficulties that this can cause for a vulnerable defendant. Additionally, this paper reveals the difficulties that the police caution can present to a vulnerable suspect in custody.

Vulnerable witnesses or defendants may be disadvantaged in understanding questions and the implications of answers that they provide in a courtroom or in attendance at a police station. The criminal justice system should support these individuals and provide guidance and training to professionals. The author identifies a need for more research in this area.

This is one of the first published papers to examine the interaction between an intermediary, a vulnerable defendant and barristers and the judge in the courtroom. The paper considers how the communication needs of vulnerable defendants should be addressed in the criminal justice system.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how Registered Intermediaries are used in the England and Wales to facilitate communication between vulnerable witnesses, victims and police investigators and criminal courts.

The paper focuses on the need for early identification of the vulnerable person so that support measures can be put in place from the outset to assist them to provide their testimony.

It is noted that real progress has been made by the introduction of legislation, specifically the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act (1999), and the uptake by the police service of the subsequent special measures put in place. However, the criminal justice service cannot afford to be complacent as research demonstrates that the police and the courts need to be more effective in managing these issues.

The paper recommends that support measures are widened to include witnesses and suspects being interviewed by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, HM Customs and Revenue, the Department of Health and the Department of Work and Pensions.

This article discusses two theoretical constructs ‐ ways of understanding complex phenomena ‐ developed from a research study. The study, which explored the perceptions of adults who had been on the receiving end of adult protection procedures, uncovered that ambivalence about professional intervention accompanied a profound desire to have mistreatment ceased. It also found that sensitive intervention can make a positive contribution to people's lives.

The parallels between child abuse and adult abuse have been frequently noted as public awareness of both has increased in recent decades. Both can involve the concealed victimisation of a weaker family member, for both interventions are difficult to implement because practitioners are loath to intrude into the privacy of the family and risk causing harm, and combating abuse of either type demands multi‐agency working. Significant differences between the two abuse constituencies have also been stressed, namely that adults are not invariably dependents reliant for care on the persons mistreating them and have the autonomy to resist efforts to intervene on their behalf.

This articles makes the case for using existing adult protection provision to improve the wellbeing of street prostitutes, whose circumstances often render them vulnerable and in need of better co‐ordinated support.

This article updates a review submitted to the Department of Health (DH) in the light of the House of Commons Health Select Committee report on Elder Abuse. The review drew on recent research about elder abuse in the UK, including research published after the Select Committee's hearings, that made specific recommendations for areas of development in research and policy. The aim of this paper is to address specific questions posed by the Select Committee in light of developments up to mid 2005.

The inclusion of modern slavery in the Care Act 2014 as a form of abuse means that the subject of modern slavery is now included in the remit of adult safeguarding in England. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the background to the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and its provisions.

A policy analysis was undertaken in 2016 drawing on research and commentary related to the interface between modern slavery and adult safeguarding.

There is little material as yet focussing on adult safeguarding and modern slavery but the inclusion of modern slavery in this area of practice and organisations will require practitioner responses, organisational collaboration and revisions of data collection and analysis. Newspaper accounts of criminal charges under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 may be important first evidence of the interface potentially between modern slavery and adults at risk of abuse and neglect that are the focus of adult safeguarding concern.

Information about modern slavery may provide relevant background and contextual detail for adult safeguarding communities, furnishing links and resources for this new area of their work.

This paper is likely to be of interest to policymakers, researchers and practitioners in examining their new duties under the Care Act 2014 and the Modern Slavery Act 2015, and to wider public and private bodies considering their responsibilities in responses to modern slavery more broadly.

Recent growth of concern relating to ‘elder abuse’ concurrent with recognition of the importance of user involvement has suggested a link between these two developments. Here, however, Phil Slater argues that generalised principles cannot generate blueprints for implementation. A concrete illustration of the general arguments is offered.