The Law Commission published provisional proposals on reforming the law on murder. It said that the existing law was a "mess". It proposed three tiers of homicide: cases where there was an intention to kill, carrying a mandatory life sentence; cases of killing through reckless indifference to causing death, and of intending to do serious harm but not to kill - including revised versions of provocation, diminished responsibility, and duress; and cases of killing by gross negligence or intention to cause harm, but not serious harm (manslaughter).
Source: A New Homicide Act for England and Wales?, Consultation Paper CP177, Law Commission (020 7453 1220)
Links: Consultation paper | Overview | Law Commission press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Dec
A report examined crime and criminal justice developments in Scotland in 2004-05.
Source: Crime and Justice in Scotland 2004/05: A review of progress, Scottish Consortium on Crime & Criminal Justice (0131 669 4484)
Links: Report
Date: 2005-Dec
The Criminal Defence Service Bill was given a second reading. The Bill proposed a new means test for legal aid in criminal cases in magistrates' courts in England and Wales.
Source: Criminal Defence Service Bill [HL], Department for Constitutional Affairs, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 13 December 2005, columns 1238-1273, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | HOC Library research paper | Hansard
Date: 2005-Dec
A report evaluated an intensive community sentence programme, designed as a direct alternative to custody for offenders aged 18-20 (subsequently replaced in April 2005 by the community order). Sentencers thought that the programme was a good alternative to custody, especially for those with chaotic lifestyles.
Source: Sarah Partridge, Jessica Harris, Mark Abram and Angie Scholes, The Intensive Control and Change Programme Pilots: A study of implementation in the first year, Online Report 48/05, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report
Date: 2005-Nov
The Scottish Parliament approved a Bill to improve the management of offenders in Scotland, through greater integration of the activities of criminal justice agencies - with the ultimate aim of reducing levels of re-offending.
Source: Management of Offenders etc. (Scotland) Bill, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Text of Bill (pdf) | Explanatory notes (pdf) | Policy memorandum (pdf) | SE press release
Date: 2005-Nov
A report examined levels of self-reported offending, anti-social and other problem behaviours and drug use among different ethnic groups, and explored the extent to which different groups reported contact with the criminal justice system.
Source: Clare Sharp and Tracey Budd, Minority Ethnic Groups and Crime: Findings from the Offending, Crime and Justice Survey 2003, Online Report 22/05, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report
Date: 2005-Nov
A pilot scheme was announced which would allow prosecutors to interview victims of crimes and other witnesses before trial, in an attempt to increase the number of successful prosecutions in England and Wales.
Source: The Guardian, 11 November 2005
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2005-Nov
The government announced that it planned to merge the five main inspectorates with responsibility for inspecting criminal justice agencies (HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, HM Magistrates Courts Service Inspectorate, HM Inspectorate of Prisons, and HM Inspectorate of Probation).
Source: Inspection Reform: Establishing an inspectorate for justice, community safety and custody, Office for Criminal Justice Reform (mailto:Inspectionreview@cjs.gsi.gov.uk)
Links: Plan | Home Office press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Nov
A White Paper proposed reforms to magistrates' courts, including: making it easier for magistrates in employment to take time off from work; finding alternative means of dealing with high-volume, low-level offences (such as television licence evasion); and ensuring that defendants who did not have valid reasons for turning up in court would have their trials conducted and sentences passed in their absence.
Source: Supporting Magistrates' Courts to Provide Justice, Cm 6681, Department for Constitutional Affairs, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: White Paper
Date: 2005-Nov
A think-tank report said that the government should introduce 'Community Offender Panels' (COPs), to bring the criminal justice system closer to local people and help tackle anti-social behaviour. COPs for adults would be a new tier of local courts below magistrates, and modelled on the successful Youth Offender Panels.
Source: Ben Rogers, New Directions in Community Justice, Institute for Public Policy Research, available from Central Books (0845 458 9911)
Links: IPPR press release
Date: 2005-Oct
A report summarized the views of people from black and minority ethnic communities who attended focus groups examining perceptions of fair treatment by the criminal justice system.
Source: BME Communities Expectations of Fair Treatment by the Criminal Justice System, Office for Criminal Justice Reform (cjsonline@cjit.gsi.gov.uk)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Oct
A new book provided a critical analysis of the concepts and delivery of community justice. It examined the inter-agency character of intervention, and the developing idea of end-to-end offender management.
Source: Jane Winstone and Francis Pakes (eds.), Community Justice: Issues for probation and criminal justice, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2005-Sep
A new book addressed a number of key themes and developments in restorative justice, based on papers presented at an international conference. It contained sections on restorative justice and youth, aboriginal justice and restorative justice, victimization and restorative justice, and evaluating restorative justice.
Source: Elizabeth Elliott and Robert Gordon (eds.), New Directions in Restorative Justice: Issues, practice, evaluation, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2005-Jul
The government announced measures designed to promote greater diversity in judicial appointments.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 13 July 2005, columns 25-27WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | DCA press release | DRC press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Jul
A joint inspectorate report said that although there were some good single-agency strategic approaches to community penalty enforcement, these had not been harnessed by Local Criminal Justice Boards to provide an overarching strategy and approach to improving outcomes.
Source: A Joint Inspection of the Enforcement of Community Penalties, HM Inspectorate of Probation (020 7035 2200) and other inspectorates
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Jul
A report by a committee of MSPs said that a stronger statutory duty needed to be placed on Scotland's local authorities to ensure they properly cared for young offenders.
Source: Stage 1 Report on the Management of Offenders etc (Scotland) Bill, 10th Report 2005, SP Paper 372, Scottish Parliament Justice 2 Committee, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | Children Now report
Date: 2005-Jun
A Bill was introduced to improve the management of offenders in Scotland, through greater integration of the activities of criminal justice agencies - with the ultimate aim of reducing levels of re-offending.
Source: Management of Offenders etc. (Scotland) Bill, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Text of Bill (pdf) | Explanatory notes (pdf) | Policy memorandum (pdf) | SE press release
Date: 2005-Jun
A report presented the findings from the 2003-04 British Crime Survey on public confidence and perceptions of policing and the wider criminal justice system. Confidence in the criminal justice system was slightly higher than it had been the previous year. But only 48 per cent of people felt the police in general were doing an excellent or good job.
Source: Jonathan Allen, May El Komy, Jorgen Lovbakke and Hannah Roy, Policing and the Criminal Justice System: Public Confidence and Perceptions - Findings from the 2003/04 British Crime Survey, Online Report 31/05, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Jun
The government announced that it would proceed with plans (subject to parliamentary approval) to abolish juries in complex fraud cases.
Source: House of Lords Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 21 June 2005, columns WS69, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | Law Society press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Jun
A report by a committee of MPs examined the problem of non-attendance by defendants in criminal cases. It said that no single criminal justice agency was responsible for communicating with defendants and hence for making sure that a defendant attended court hearings.
Source: Facing Justice: Tackling defendants' non-attendance at court, Twenty-second Report (Session 2005-06), HC 103, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2005-Jun
An inspection report praised standards of customer service in the Northern Ireland Court Service.
Source: Customer Service in the Northern Ireland Court Service, HM Inspectorate of Court Administration (0117 959 8201)
Links: Report (pdf) | HMICA press release (pdf)
Date: 2005-Jun
The government announced plans (in the Queen's speech) to reintroduce the Management of Offenders and Sentencing Bill (previously lost due to the general election). The Bill would extend the principle of early release through tagging, and develop a system of day fines and community sentencing.
Source: Management of Offenders and Sentencing Bill [HL], Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 17 May 2005, columns 29-31, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard
Date: 2005-May
The Law Lords ruled that jurors could raise doubts about the safety of criminal convictions, even after the trial, so long as there was a clear intention to avoid injustice.
Source: Her Majesty's Attorney General (Respondent) v. Scotcher (Appellant) (Criminal Appeal from Her Majesty's High Court of Justice) UKHL 36 (Session 2005-06), House of Lords Judicial Office (020 7219 3111)
Links: Text of judgement | Guardian report
Date: 2005-May
A new book reported research which investigated the perceptions of ethnic minorities concerning their treatment in the criminal courts.
Source: Stephen Shute, Roger Hood and Florence Seemungal, A Fair Hearing? Ethnic minorities in the criminal courts, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2005-May
The Lord Chief Justice said that re-offending rates after a prison sentence were at an "unacceptably high level"; and the failure of the criminal justice system to stop prisoners re-offending should shock the public.
Source: Speech by Lord Woolf, 12 May 2005
Links: Text of speech | Guardian report
Date: 2005-May
The government reintroduced a Criminal Defence Service Bill (previously lost due to the general election). The Bill proposed a new means test for legal aid in criminal cases in magistrates' courts in England and Wales. A framework document provided a more detailed description of the scheme.
Source: Criminal Defence Service Bill [HL], Department for Constitutional Affairs, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Criminal Defence Service Bill: Framework Document, Cm 6572, Department for Constitutional Affairs, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Framework document (pdf) | DCA press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-May
Her Majesty's Courts Service began operating on 1 April 2005. The new organization unified the administration of all 650 Crown, county and magistrates' courts in England and Wales. This ended the long-standing separation between magistrates' courts (administered by 42 independent local committees), and the Court of Appeal, High Court and Crown and county courts (administered by the government's Court Service).
Source: Press release 1 April 2005, Department for Constitutional Affairs (020 7210 8500)
Links: DCA press release
Date: 2005-Apr
The Scottish Executive began consultation on the shape, number, and operation of Scotland's new Community Justice Authorities - designed to improve the way local councils and other bodies worked together to manage offenders and tackle re-offending.
Source: Supporting Safer, Stronger Communities: Consultation on Community Justice Authorities, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Consultation document (pdf) | SE press release
Date: 2005-Apr
A research report examined the evidence and theory base for the potential role which the arts could play in the criminal justice sector.
Source: Jenny Hughes, Doing the Arts Justice: A review of research literature, practice and theory, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (020 7211 6200)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Apr
A report said that re-offending on bail could be reduced in Scotland through enhanced supervision, including extending the use of electronic monitoring.
Source: Report on the Use of Bail and Remand, Sentencing Commission for Scotland (0131 244 3228)
Links: Report (pdf) | SE press release
Date: 2005-Apr
A report said that more investment was needed in local schemes for monitoring and reporting racist incidents.
Source: Racist Incidents Monitoring: The role of Citizens Advice Bureaux, Citizens Advice (020 7833 2181)
Links: Citizens Advice press release
Date: 2005-Mar
A report by a committee of MPs said that trials without juries should be considered in criminal cases based on complex scientific evidence.
Source: Forensic Science on Trial, Seventh Report (Session 2004-05), HC 96, House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Mar
The Scottish Executive published a Bill designed to reduce re-offending rates, and improve the way criminal justice services managed offenders.
Source: Management of Offenders etc. (Scotland) Bill, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Text of Bill (pdf) | Explanatory notes (pdf) | SE press release
Date: 2005-Mar
The independent Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland published a report on the handling of race issues within the criminal justice system. The Scottish Executive said that it accepted all the recommendations.
Source: Thematic Report on Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service's Response on Race Issues, Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland, available from Scottish Executive (0131 556 8400) | Press release 21 March 2005, Scottish Executive (0131 556 8400)
Links: Report | SE press release
Date: 2005-Mar
The Scottish Executive published planned reforms to court structures and procedures, aimed at reducing crime and the fear of crime, and restoring public confidence in criminal justice services.
Source: Smarter Justice, Safer Communities: Summary justice reform - Next steps, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report | SE press release
Date: 2005-Mar
A qualitative research report examined the factors which influenced people s levels of confidence in the criminal justice system, using 12 focus groups conducted in 6 different areas. Levels of confidence in the criminal justice system as a whole were heavily influenced by views and perceptions of the police, and views regarding the local crime problem.
Source: Andrew Johnson, Rhonda Wake and Roderick Hill, Confidence in the Criminal Justice System: Explaining area variation in public confidence, Research Findings 251, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Findings (pdf)
Date: 2005-Feb
A think-tank report said that the government had failed to learn even the simplest lessons from overseas experience on crime reduction. Key elements of the criminal justice system, including the prison and probation services and the Youth Justice Board, were failing.
Source: David Green, Emma Grove and Nadia Martin, Crime and Civil Society: Can we become a more law-abiding people?, Civitas (020 7401 5470)
Links: Civitas press release | Young People Now report
Date: 2005-Feb
An article analyzed the core sources of evidence that were claimed to underpin the wide-ranging reforms of the criminal justice system under the Criminal Justice Act 2003. It argued that the processes of evidence collection and deployment were framed in such a way that critical evidence that questioned the wisdom of many of the planned reforms (on the grounds that they would cause miscarriages of justice) was completely disregarded.
Source: Michael Naughton, 'Evidence-based policy and the government of the criminal justice system - only if the evidence fits!', Critical Social Policy, Volume 25 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2005-Feb