ABSTRACT
The courts are a key to reprimanding the police for breaches of Police and Criminal Evidence Act and the Codes of Practice, and for encouraging future compliance. There are two main legal sources through which vulnerability for the purposes of the appropriate adult safeguard may be defined: Code C (soft law) and case law. Code C recognises the innate nature of vulnerability and also, albeit less explicitly, acknowledges the situational vulnerability of a suspect in police custody. The issue, however, lies with the fact that they are not required to engage in any meaningful way with how vulnerability is constructed. Vulnerability can be conceptualised in a plethora of ways and can mean a number of things; it can be innate, situational, or inherent, or may be linked with space or notions of risk. However, in the instance of the appropriate adult safeguard, the courts are not necessarily required to engage with the definition of vulnerability in any meaningful manner.
