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When a defendant pleads guilty to a criminal charge against them their conviction may be justified on the basis of autonomy rather than accuracy. In this context, autonomy can make the difference between a legitimate conviction and the breach of fundamental rights. However, autonomy in this context is not clearly defined. This article argues, based on philosophical conceptions of autonomy and empirical realities, that true autonomy is an ideal rather than a practical reality. It considers the level of autonomy necessary to legitimise a criminal conviction via plea, and suggests that current conceptions of autonomy are inadequate since they rely on a formalistic autonomy ‘myth’, presuming autonomy in the absence of threats. An analysis drawing on original empirical data from two studies demonstrates how autonomy may be being depleted to unacceptable levels in the current system. The article concludes by presenting reform proposals.

This paper examines the work of criminal legal aid solicitors and the state of practice under challenging conditions for the sector. Drawing on an empirical study in south Wales containing 20 semi-structured interviews, it provides original data on the frontline of criminal practice. It is argued – using vulnerability theory – that the challenges facing criminal legal aid solicitors deplete their and their client’s resilience but at the same time bolsters the resilience of the police and prosecution. It further urges that vulnerability theory be used to examine criminal justice in practice, particularly the dynamics between various actors.

This article provides an analysis of the provisions relating to vulnerable suspects, with a focus on adults, in England and Wales and in Belgium. In doing so, the various problems and lessons learned from each jurisdiction are examined. Situated within the context of how these provisions have been developed, both at a domestic level and at a European level, we argue that neither system offers an ideal approach to the vulnerability of suspects, but we also posit that the two jurisdictions can learn from one another in their approach. Herein, we suggest that both jurisdictions must do more to protect adult vulnerable suspects and offer potential avenues for improvement.

This article considers the definition of the term ‘vulnerability’ in relation to the suspect in police detention and more specifically in relation to the appropriate adult safeguard. Using Fineman’s vulnerability theory, this article argues that all suspects are ‘vulnerable’ and, rather, attention should be focussed on how resilience is depleted, reduced or removed. In doing so, it points towards the limitations of the focus of the current legislative provisions. It situates this discussion within the broader frame of the impact and very nature of police detention and the implications of the broader criminal process as mechanisms that reduce resilience (and possibly deliberately so). Further, it reflects on how the framing of vulnerability in legislation relating to the police detention does not fully capture the position of the suspect in police detention. It concludes then by urging that the definition of the vulnerable suspect is reconceptualised so as to more adequately capture the position of the suspect of the criminal investigation.

Domestic violence and abuse impact the lives of millions every year. Historically, such conduct was considered to be a private matter, and outside the remit of the law. While domestic violence and abuse is now recognised to be an important social issue, the historical acceptance of such abuse provides a context to understand some of the difficulties that victims face today. A key focus of the chapter is the family law remedies available for domestic abuse victims. Three key remedies are examined: non-molestation orders, occupation orders, and forced marriage protection orders. In addition to this, the chapter will explore the definition of domestic abuse, which is now set out in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. The chapter also explores some of the wider factors pertaining to the family justice system’s response to domestic violence and abuse. This includes the impact of the changes to legal aid as introduced by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, and the recent special measures brought in to support domestic abuse victims during court proceedings, introduced by the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.

When Danish immigrant and Latter-day Saint convert Andrew Jenson left his homeland as a teenager for the American West in 1866, he envisioned a better life in a land of seemingly endless economic and spiritual possibilities. Instead, the Latter-day Saint kingdom in the West, then squarely outside accepted notions of American respectability, brought new challenges. Trapped in a cycle of intermittent wage work, Jenson reimagined himself as a journalist and advocate for Latter-day Saint Scandinavians in Utah Territory. He quickly evolved into a self-made historian for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For the next fifty years until his death in 1941, Jenson documented the church’s transition away from its insular nineteenth-century past toward a more modern future. This book chronicles the life and career of historian Andrew Jenson, a prolific writer and long-time employee of the Historian’s Office, the church’s main archive. Jenson reformed institutional record keeping, expanded the church’s primitive archive, and traveled over one million miles to gather Latter-day Saint history around the globe. This book charts a different course for the field of Latter-day Saint biography by telling the story of a life outside the church’s hierarchy. Additionally, this book uses Jenson’s life to narrate a larger history of the Historian’s Office while offering a fresh perspective on a remarkable era of global growth and change for the church.

Legally aided criminal defence work is under significant strain at present following fee stagnations and funding cuts over the last 20 years. This has obvious implications for those working in criminal defence practice, which have been examined in the literature on access to criminal justice. However, the implications for teaching and learning within criminal law and practice have been not been subject to much attention. Within we reflect on the teaching and learning challenges. Further, we use a Fineman vulnerability analysis to illustrate how the challenges faced by criminal defence practice – in the face of a crumbling criminal justice system – affect criminal law and process teaching and learning. Finally, we explore how the resilience of criminal defence can be provided (or bolstered) by and within the academe.

The post-financial crisis politics of austerity have required police forces to make unprecedented savings at a rapid pace. In response, some forces have turned to the market, outsourcing back office and frontline functions to commercial enterprises which promise to deliver the same service (or more) for less. This trend has unsurprisingly captured the attention of policing scholars who have begun to explore issues of policy, politics, accountability and service delivery in outsourced areas. This chapter adds another variable into the equation: labour force vulnerability. Specifically, it compares vulnerability in outsourced and non-outsourced frontline roles in police custody suites. It argues that in addition to traditional police labour force vulnerabilities such as the inherent complexity of police work, limited resources, lack of training and feeling over-scrutinised, those working in austerity-era outsourced roles may also suffer from identity crises, unwanted media attention and a particular kind of prejudice from detainees. In so doing, it makes a new contribution to the emergent literature on police outsourcing.

This paper, drawing upon qualitative data produced through interviews with custody officers (COs) at two custody suites in England, examines how the vulnerability of children and young people is conceptualised generally, within the criminal process, and then, more specifically, in police custody. It uses the appropriate adult (AA) safeguard under Code C to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 as the point of reference and explores, firstly, how childhood is conceptualised and, secondly, how childhood vulnerability is understood by COs. The responses of COs are perhaps indicative of a wider issue within the criminal process – the construction of youth and childhood and, accordingly, the criminal law response to children and young people. Within this paper, whilst it is accepted that childhood and vulnerability are non-static concepts, it is nevertheless contended that children and young people are vulnerable, particularly when facing the criminal process.

In The Rise and Fall of the Right of Silence, Quirk provides the first comprehensive, empirically grounded account of the demise of the right of silence. Focusing on the Criminal Justice and Public...