The appropriate adult (AA) safeguard is an important procedural safeguard that can be implemented to protect vulnerable suspects at the police investigative stage of the criminal process. The safeguard is available for young suspects (below the age of 18) and adult suspects who are defined as vulnerable, and can be performed by a vast array of individuals. It is intended to protect evidence, enable effective participation and avoid miscarriages of justice. However, the safeguard lacks an underpinning conceptual framework; it is, and can, be interpreted in multiple ways, thus undermining its efficacy. Drawing upon doctrinal and socio-legal analysis, this article examines how the safeguard is—and, crucially, can be—conceptualised. It is argued that, although it is used principally as an evidential safeguard, the appropriate adult could be reimagined through the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child, with a specific focus on allowing for effective participation of the vulnerable suspect.

中文翻译：

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解释和重构适当的成人保障

适当的成人 (AA) 保障措施是一项重要的程序保障措施，可以在刑事诉讼的警方调查阶段实施以保护易受伤害的嫌疑人。该保护措施适用于年轻嫌疑人（18 岁以下）和被定义为易受伤害的成年嫌疑人，并且可以由大量个人执行。其目的是保护证据、促进有效参与和避免司法不公。然而，保障措施缺乏一个基础的概念框架；它可以并且可以以多种方式解释，从而削弱其功效。本文利用教义和社会法律分析，检验了保障措施是如何——以及至关重要的是——如何被概念化的。有人争辩说，虽然它主要用作证据保障，