A report said that an 'unwieldy and opaque' justice system was unlawfully undermining the ability of thousands of adults and children with learning disabilities to understand what was happening to them at court.
Source: Jessica Jacobson with Jenny Talbot, Vulnerable Defendants in the Criminal Courts: A review of provision for adults and children, Prison Reform Trust
Links: Report | PRT press release | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2009-Dec
A report (by an official advisory body) proposed changes to the law on conspiracy. Proposals included: changing the law to allow a husband and wife to be jointly charged with conspiracy to commit a crime; and making it possible to bring a charge of attempted murder against parents who failed to provide their children with enough food and water.
Source: Conspiracy and Attempts, LC318, HC 41, Law Commission/TSO
Links: Report | Draft Bill | Law Commission press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2009-Dec
A joint inspection report examined the treatment of offenders with mental disorders. Although concerns about individuals' mental health were followed up in almost all cases, communication between the criminal justice organizations could be made more systematic and effective.
Source: A Joint Inspection on Work Prior to Sentence with Offenders with Mental Disorders, HM Chief Inspector of Probation, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, HMI Court Administration, and HMI Constabulary
Links: Report | Joint press release
Date: 2009-Dec
The government published a national delivery plan for health and criminal justice, building on the 2009 Bradley review of mental health and learning disability in the criminal justice system. The delivery plan was designed to contribute to key initiatives around protecting the public, reducing health inequalities, reducing reoffending, and health improvement and protection.
Source: Improving Health, Supporting Justice: The National Delivery Plan of the Health and Criminal Justice Programme Board, Department of Health (08701 555455)
Links: Plan | Hansard | DH press release | SCMH press release | PRT press release | Turning Point press release | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Nov
An audit report said that the Legal Services Commission needed to improve its administration of criminal legal aid in England and Wales.
Source: The Procurement of Criminal Legal Aid in England and Wales by the Legal Services Commission, HC 29 (Session 2009-10), National Audit Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Summary | NAO press release | Bar Council press release
Date: 2009-Nov
An article examined the role of women, and particularly of mothers, in campaigns against miscarriages of justice.
Source: Sarah Charman and Stephen Savage, 'Mothers for justice? Gender and campaigns against miscarriages of justice', British Journal of Criminology, Volume 49 Number 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Nov
A think-tank report said that the centralization of the criminal justice system over the previous ten years had been an 'expensive failure'. In chasing national headlines and targets, government-controlled agencies had not addressed the problem of crime in deprived communities, where it was most acute. The report recommended policies designed to restore power over crime and justice to local political communities; and to give the courts the authority both to order more tailored, structured sentences and to ensure that these sentences were translated into practice.
Source: Order in the Courts: Restoring trust through local justice, Centre for Social Justice (020 7620 1120)
Links: Report | Summary | Speech | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Nov
A report examined the effectiveness of restorative justice practice in Scotland. Restorative justice was increasingly seen as a highly effective tool in cutting reoffending and reassuring victims.
Source: National Evaluation of Restorative Justice Youth Services in Scotland 2008-2009, Viewpoint Organisation
Links: Report | New Start report
Date: 2009-Nov
The Coroners and Justice Act 2009 was given Royal assent. The Act was designed to modernize the coroners system (including a 'charter for the bereaved' to ensure that minimum standards of care were given at every stage of the inquest process); provide better protection for witnesses during criminal investigations; create a new Sentencing Council (to supersede the existing Sentencing Guidelines Council) to improve consistency and transparency in sentencing; and reform the partial defence of provocation and replace it with a new partial defence of 'loss of control', narrowing the circumstances in which a person who killed in anger could claim a partial defence.
Source: Coroners and Justice Act 2009, Ministry of Justice, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Act | Explanatory notes | MOJ press release | Bar Council press release | Evangelical Alliance press release
Date: 2009-Nov
A report said that restorative justice had a greater impact on youth reoffending rates than custodial sentencing, and satisfied 89 per cent of victims. It called for a restorative youth justice system to be established in England and Wales, based on evidence from a model used in Northern Ireland.
Source: Jessica Jacobson and Penelope Gibbs, Making Amends: Restorative youth justice in Northern Ireland, Prison Reform Trust (020 7251 5070)
Links: Report | PRT press release | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Oct
The government announced a review into the delivery of legal aid. Sir Ian Magee would assess the delivery and governance arrangements of the legal aid system, and make recommendations.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 13 October 2009, columns 23-24WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | MOJ press release
Date: 2009-Oct
The government began consultation on proposals to 'rebalance' the legal aid budget, designed to make better use of the criminal legal aid budget and to reform and rationalize payment structures.
Source: Legal Aid: Funding Reforms, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Consultation document | MOJ press release | Bar Council press release | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Aug
A report by a committee of MPs said that the role of the Crown Prosecution Service was central to the criminal justice system: yet the role of the service had only developed incrementally over time, in response to specific challenges, rather than having a strategic place in the criminal justice system. The prosecutor's role in relation to victims also seemed to be generally misunderstood.
Source: The Crown Prosecution Service: Gatekeeper of the Criminal Justice System, Eleventh Report (Session 2008-09), HC 186, House of Commons Justice Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Telegraph report | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Aug
The National Offender Management Service published its annual report for 2008-09, showing its performance against public service agreement targets.
Source: Annual Report and Accounts 0809, National Offender Management Service/Ministry of Justice, HC 779, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Aug
A think-tank report examined 'problem-solving' justice – the idea that the justice system, and courts in particular, should actively seek to aid victims, change the behaviour of offenders, and improve public safety. Despite some early encouraging results, it was not clear whether this new approach was simply a fad that would fade away over time, or the beginning of a fundamental shift in how the criminal justice system worked and in the way that the public interacted with it.
Source: Greg Berman and Aubrey Fox, Lasting Change or Passing Fad? Problem-solving justice in England and Wales, Policy Exchange (020 7340 2650)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Aug
A new book examined the restorative justice projects in the Republican and Loyalist communities that had emerged with the ending of the conflict in Northern Ireland.
Source: Anna Eriksson, Justice in Transition: Community restorative justice in Northern Ireland, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2009-Jul
A report said that child witnesses in sex abuse or violence cases were facing excessive delays and a lack of support in giving evidence.
Source: Joyce Plotnikoff and Richard Woolfson, Measuring Up? Evaluating implementation of government commitments to young witnesses in criminal proceedings, National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (0207 825 2775)
Links: Report | Summary | NSPCC press release | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Jul
The Director of Public Prosecutions published a plan for improving the effectiveness, responsiveness and transparency of the Crown Prosecution Service, including the introduction of core quality standards.
Source: The Public Prosecution Service: Setting the Standard, Crown Prosecution Service (020 7796 8000)
Links: Plan | CPS press release | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Jul
A briefing paper said that, following the Bradley report, creating a national network of criminal justice mental health teams should be an early priority for the National Health Service and the National Offender Management Service.
Source: The Bradley Report and the Government's Response: The implications for mental health services for offenders, Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health (020 7827 8300)
Links: Paper | SCMH press release | Bradley report | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Jul
A new textbook examined the philosophy and principles of restorative justice in a number of jurisdictions.
Source: Carolyn Hoyle (ed.), Restorative Justice, Routledge (01264 343071)
Links: Summary
Date: 2009-Jul
A report by an all-party group of MPs said that a radical shift of powers and funding down to a local level, in what was termed 'primary justice', would turn around the 'failing' criminal justice system. The system needed to act more like local public services – with competitive commissioning of services, greater local freedom over spending priorities, and giving local people a feeling of control over the way society dealt with offenders and ex-prisoners.
Source: Amelia Cookson and Glyn Gaskarth, Primary Justice: An inquiry into justice in communities, All Party Parliamentary Local Government Group c/o Clive Betts MP (020 7219 3588)
Links: Report | LGIU press release | Local Government Chronicle report | New Start report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Jul
The government published its response to consultation on means-testing for legal aid in crown court cases. It said that, from January 2010, defendants with a disposable income of more than £3,398 would be required to contribute towards their legal representation.
Source: Crown Court Means Testing: Response to Consultation, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Response | Consultation document | Hansard | MOJ press release | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Jun
A new book provided a critical introduction to the challenges faced by the criminal justice system, including those related to policing, sentencing, and punishment.
Source: Anthea Hucklesby and Azrini Wahidin, Criminal Justice, Oxford University Press (01536 741727)
Links: Summary
Date: 2009-Jun
A study found that the majority of community sentences provided similar or better value for money and effectiveness than short-term prison sentences. In 2007 – the latest year for which data was available – diverting short-term prisoners who were drug-users to community-based sentences could have saved almost £1 billion over the lifetime of the offenders concerned.
Source: Matrix Knowledge, Are Short Term Prison Sentences an Efficient and Effective Use of Public Resources?, Make Justice Work (020 7031 1164)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Jun
A report said that the use of secret evidence in the courts had grown dramatically in the previous 10 years – yet secret evidence was 'unreliable, unfair, undemocratic and unnecessary', and was damaging to both national security and the integrity of the courts.
Source: Secret Evidence, JUSTICE (020 7329 5100)
Links: Report | JUSTICE press release
Date: 2009-Jun
The government announced that it would abandon plans (in the Coroners and Justice Bill) to hold some coroners' inquests in secret without juries.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 15 May 2009, column 67WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | Amnesty press release | INQUEST press release | Liberty press release | Guardian report
Date: 2009-May
A joint inspectorate report examined the effectiveness of services provided to victims and witnesses of crime, and whether they maximized the likelihood of witnesses attending court and improved the confidence of victims and witnesses in the criminal justice system. The general level of service provided to prosecution witnesses had improved significantly, but there was 'considerable scope' for further improvement.
Source: Report of a Joint thematic Review of Victim and Witness Experiences in the Criminal Justice System, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (020 7210 1197), HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and HM Inspectorate of Court Administration
Links: Report | Summary | HMCPSI press release | MOJ press release | ACPO press release
Date: 2009-May
A report summarized international research evidence on the experiences of adults with mental health problems in the justice system.
Source: KM Research and Consultancy Ltd, Access to Justice: Evidence of the experiences of adults with mental health problems, Research Report 6/09, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-May
An official advisory body began consultation on provisional proposals for reforming the law governing the admissibility of expert evidence in criminal proceedings in England and Wales. It said that the existing law was 'unsatisfactory'.
Source: The Admissibility of Expert Evidence in Criminal Proceedings in England and Wales: A new approach to the determination of evidentiary reliability, LC190, Law Commission (020 7453 1220) Links: Consultation document | Law Commission press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2009-Apr
The government published a Green Paper on community involvement in the criminal justice system in England and Wales. Prosecuting lawyers would work with police and the public to prioritize offences. A scheme for 'citizen panels' – which would choose the type of work offenders who had been given community penalties should carry out – would be rolled out across the country. Community impact statements would be introduced, giving communities the chance to give their views on crimes in their area and on the impact the crimes had had on local people.
Source: Engaging Communities in Criminal Justice, Cm 7583, Ministry of Justice, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Green Paper | Hansard | MOJ press release | BBC report | Telegraph report
Date: 2009-Apr
An independent review called for new criminal justice mental health teams to help the police and courts to divert people with severe mental illness to health and social care at the earliest point possible; for a new duty on the National Health Service to ensure that police, prosecutors, probation, and prisons had the resources and skills to work with people with severe mental illness; and for transfer from prison to appropriate secure mental health services to take place within 14 days.
Source: The Bradley Report: Lord Bradley's review of people with mental health problems or learning disabilities in the criminal justice system, Department of Health (08701 555455)
Links: Report | Summary | Hansard | DH press release | SCMH press release | Rethink press release | PRT press release | MHF press release | St Mungos press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Apr
The Coroners and Justice Bill was given a third reading. The Bill was designed to modernize the coroners system (including a 'charter for the bereaved' to ensure that minimum standards of care were given at every stage of the inquest process; provide better protection for witnesses during criminal investigations; create a new Sentencing Council (to supersede the existing Sentencing Guidelines Council) to improve consistency and transparency in sentencing; remove barriers, and strengthen safeguards, to effective data-sharing in support of improved public services and the fight against crime and terrorism; and give statutory authority to the principle that the courts should be able to take account of a defendant's previous convictions.
Source: Coroners and Justice Bill, Ministry of Justice, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 24 March 2009, columns 188-274, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard
Date: 2009-Mar
A report by a joint committee of MPs and peers said that the government should drop plans (in the Coroners and Justice Bill) to allow some inquests to be held in private, without a jury.
Source: Legislative Scrutiny: Coroners and Justice Bill, Eighth Report (Session 2008-09), HC 362 and HL 57, Joint Committee on Human Rights (House of Lords and House of Commons) Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Telegraph report | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Mar
A report examined the benefits of volunteering in the criminal justice system. Although volunteers already played a 'hugely important' role in often closed institutions, more could be done to tap into the potential of people who had experienced the system.
Source: Baroness Neuberger, Volunteering Across the Criminal Justice System, Cabinet Office (020 7261 8527)
Links: Report | Cabinet Office press release | NAVCA press release
Date: 2009-Mar
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the Coroners and Justice Bill. It said that it remained 'open to considering other constructive suggestions' for addressing the issues raised by the proposal to hold inquests without juries in counter-terrorism cases.
Source: Coroners and Justice Bill: Government Response to the Committee's Second Report, First Special Report (Session 2008-09), HC 322, House of Commons Justice Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report | Pulse report
Date: 2009-Mar
An audit report said that HM Courts Service had taken practical steps to improve the use of the Crown Court's existing resources: but a number of risks to value for money remained.
Source: Administration of the Crown Court, HC 290 (Session 2008-09), National Audit Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Summary | NAO press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2009-Mar
The government announced that it had decided to scrap a pilot scheme under which benefits were withdrawn from offenders who breached community orders. It said that an evaluation had found that the scheme did not provide value for money.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 27 February 2009, columns 36-38WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | Telegraph report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Feb
A think-tank report examined 'non-prison' locations where offenders with mental illnesses came into contact with the criminal justice system – including police custody, the courts, and probation. It outlined the limitations of these settings in dealing with mentally disordered people, and used examples of good practice to suggest improvements.
Source: Charlie Brooker and Ben Ullmann, Inside Out: The case for improving mental healthcare across the criminal justice system, Policy Exchange (020 7340 2650)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Feb
A literature review examined public attitudes to the jury system. The jury system attracted high confidence ratings from the public; only the police attracted higher confidence or performance ratings. People were opposed to proposals to limit the right to trial by jury.
Source: Julian Roberts and Mike Hough, Public Opinion and the Jury: An international literature review, Research Report 1/09, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Feb
A think-tank briefing said that many serious, violent, and persistent offenders were not being imprisoned.
Source: David Green and Pete Quentin, Serious, Violent and Persistent Offenders, Civitas (020 7401 5470)
Links: Briefing | Telegraph report
Date: 2009-Feb
The Coroners and Justice Bill was published, and given a second reading. The Bill was designed to modernize the coroners system (including a 'charter for the bereaved' to ensure that minimum standards of care were given at every stage of the inquest process; provide better protection for witnesses during criminal investigations; create a new Sentencing Council (to supersede the existing Sentencing Guidelines Council) to improve consistency and transparency in sentencing; remove barriers, and strengthen safeguards, to effective data-sharing in support of improved public services and the fight against crime and terrorism; and give statutory authority to the principle that United Kingdom courts should be able to take account of a defendant's previous convictions.
Source: Coroners and Justice Bill, Ministry of Justice, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 26 January 2009, columns 26-125, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Charter for bereaved | Hansard | Hansard (second reading) | MOJ press release (1) | MOJ press release (2) | HOC research brief (1) | HOC research brief (2) | Amnesty press release | NO2ID press release | INQUEST press release | NIHRC press release | Christian Institute press release | Bar Council press release | JUSTICE briefing | Telegraph report | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Jan
A report by a committee of MPs examined proposals in the Coroners and Justice Bill. It said that 'close and careful scrutiny' should be given to clauses providing for inquests without juries, and to the scope of powers granted to government to make orders in respect of data-sharing between departments.
Source: Coroners and Justice Bill, Second Report (Session 2008-09), HC 185, House of Commons Justice Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Jan
A new book examined the problems that had led to the penal 'crisis'. It said that informed media and public opinion had finally 'turned the corner' and that the time was ripe for a concerted pragmatic U-turn in criminal justice policy-making based increasingly on well-understood restorative justice principles.
Source: David Cornwell, The Penal Crisis and the Clapham Omnibus: Questions and answers in restorative justice, Waterside Press (01962 855567)
Links: Summary
Date: 2009-Jan