Published: 6 Nov 2026
Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJI) has published an Inspection of Adult Safeguarding Arrangements in Northern Ireland’s Criminal Justice System. The Report looked at how criminal justice organisations in Northern Ireland identified, reported and responded to adult safeguarding concerns. It covered the work and arrangements of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland (PPS), the Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS), the Probation Board for Northern Ireland (PBNI) and the Youth Justice Agency (YJA). Inspectors also examined the Department of Justice’s role in adult safeguarding and the Adult Protection Bill.
Adult safeguarding is about preventing harm from abuse and protecting anyone aged 18 or older where harm has occurred or was suspected.
Adult safeguarding should be recognised as a core element of public protection and access to justice, so all adults at risk are identified early, protected effectively and supported in a way that respects their rights, dignity and individual circumstances.
The Adult Safeguarding: Prevention and Protection in Partnership Policy was the key regional document for adult safeguarding arrangements in Northern Ireland. Currently, adult safeguarding arrangements in Northern Ireland are not on a statutory basis. This is different to the current position in the rest of the United Kingdom; however, this will change when the Adult Protection Bill becomes law.
As a result, criminal justice organisations were operating during a period of uncertainty. This contributed to inconsistencies in operational practice, including in the understanding of adult safeguarding thresholds, responsibilities and referral pathways.
Without clear guidance, sufficient funding and adequate resourcing, the implementation of the Adult Protection Bill risked being delayed and fragmented, with some parts of the legislation not commenced until a later date.
The Inspection Team found a clear commitment among the criminal justice organisations inspected to protecting adults at risk of harm. Fieldwork identified examples of dedicated staff, strong partnership working and safeguarding referrals that resulted in proactive support being put in place.
Specialist teams such as the PSNI’s Public Protection Branch and Probation Officers from the Probation Board for Northern Ireland had strong knowledge and practice; however, adult safeguarding was not consistently recognised as a distinct concept by frontline staff in all organisations. Training, quality assurance and governance arrangements were also inconsistent.
Data about crime outcomes, prosecution decisions and court outcomes for safeguarding cases was limited which created difficulties to better understand the barriers to achieving a criminal justice outcome or identifying opportunities for improvement.
Recent CJI inspections of Probation Approved Premises, the use of Special Measures in the Criminal Courts, Police Custody and the Year Three Review of the effectiveness of the Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act (Northern Ireland) 2021 have raised concerns about adult safeguarding arrangements and made recommendations for improvement. Inspectors raised concerns in recent prison Inspections that the Northern Ireland Prison Service was unable to refer adult protection concerns arising within prison directly to Health and Social Care Trust Adult Gateway Teams. This was still the case at the time of this Inspection. As a result, adult protection concerns arising in prisons were not assessed in line with regional safeguarding arrangements.
Northern Ireland needs stronger adult safeguarding arrangements to better protect people in our community. Many victims in adult safeguarding cases are older or have complex needs and they deserve effective protection and support that respects their rights.
This Inspection Report makes four Strategic and two Operational Recommendations to strengthen adult safeguarding arrangements. We hope the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and criminal justice organisations work collaboratively to implement the inspection recommendations and improve how they identify, report and respond to adult safeguarding concerns.
Sign up to our newsletter to get regular updates from us delivered directly to your inbox.