An article said that measures adopted by the New Labour governments (1997-2010) to assess, sentence, and manage dangerous offenders had been 'over expansive', and had caused a multitude of problems resulting in an 'untenable' situation.
Source: Karen Harrison, 'Dangerous offenders, indeterminate sentencing, and the rehabilitation revolution', Journal of Social Welfare & Family Law, Volume 32 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Dec
The government published a Green Paper on plans for a 'radical reform' of the criminal justice system to punish criminals more effectively and reduce reoffending. Proposals included:
• Making offenders submit to the discipline of regular working hours in prison, more demanding tasks in the community, and greater use of curfew requirements.
• Increasing reparation to victims through greater use of restorative justice.
• Diverting more offenders with mental health or drug problems into treatment programmes.
• Introducing payment-by-results so that independent providers would be rewarded for reducing reoffending.
• Simplifying the sentencing framework by giving judges greater discretionary powers and restricting the use of indeterminate sentences.
• Giving local people a more central role in the criminal justice system.
Source: Breaking the Cycle: Effective punishment, rehabilitation and sentencing of offenders, Cm 7972, Ministry of Justice/TSO
Links: Green Paper | Hansard | Evidence report | Impact assessment | Equality impact assessment | MOJ press release | Conservative Party press release | Addaction press release | Bar Council press release | CBI press release | Childrens Society press release | Church of England press release | CMH press release | DrugScope press release | JUSTICE press release | PRT press release | Rethink press release | Turning Point press release | YJB press release | Morning Star report | Law Gazette report | Community Care report | Guardian report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Dec
A report presented findings from the 'virtual court' pilot evaluation. The pilot was successful in reducing the average time from charge to first hearing, failure to appear rates, and prisoner transportation and police cell costs. However, these savings were exceeded by costs of the pilot, particularly those associated with the technology used.
Source: Virtual Court Pilot Outcome Evaluation, Research Report 21/10, Ministry of Justice
Links: Report | Summary | Law Society press release | Law Gazette report
Notes: The virtual court was piloted between May 2009 and May 2010. In the virtual court qualifying defendants did not have to physically attend the first hearing in the magistrates' court, but remained in the police station with a video link to the court.
Date: 2010-Dec
An annual review examined the state of the criminal justice systems in England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. It described prisons as 'bloated, hugely expensive and in many ways ineffective'.
Source: Bromley Briefings Prison Factfile: December 2010, Prison Reform Trust
Date: 2010-Dec
The Ministry of Justice published a business plan for the period 2011-2015.
Source: Business Plan 2011-2015, Ministry of Justice
Links: Plan
Date: 2010-Nov
The police service inspectorate said that there was no single agency or person in charge of the criminal justice system – and therefore no single leader who could authorize change and be held to account. It highlighted issues where 'vigorous' action could increase public confidence, improve accountability, and save money. Working practices would need to change; waste needed to be eliminated; and the existing processes for dealing with cases needed to be simplified.
Source: Stop the Drift: A focus on 21st-century criminal justice, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary
Links: Report | HMIC press release | Public Finance report
Date: 2010-Nov
A think-tank report called for a radical shake-up of the criminal justice system in order to truly reduce reoffending – including the abolition of the regional structure of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), and the introduction of new public-private partnerships to reduce crime and recidivism.
Source: Max Chambers, Carter But Smarter: Transforming offender management, reducing reoffending, Policy Exchange
Links: Report | Policy Exchange press release
Date: 2010-Nov
A report by an official audit body provided an overview of recent criminal justice performance and practice.
Source: Criminal Justice System Landscape Review, National Audit Office
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Nov
The independent Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses produced a report on improving support for victims in the criminal justice system. It proposed measures designed to speed up the justice system – including ending the right to jury trial in petty crime cases, and preventing late guilty pleas.
Source: Louise Casey (Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses), Ending the Justice Waiting Game: A plea for common sense, Ministry of Justice
Links: Report | CVW press release
Date: 2010-Nov
A new book examined the rapid expansion of the scope of criminal sanctions. It considered the principles and goals that should guide decisions about what kinds of conduct were to be criminalized, and the forms that criminalization should take.
Source: Antony Duff, Lindsay Farmer, Sandra Marshall, Massimo Renzo and Victor Tadros (eds.), The Boundaries of the Criminal Law, Oxford University Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2010-Nov
A new book examined the application of cost-benefit analysis to criminal justice policies.
Source: John Roman, Terence Dunworth and Kevin Marsh (eds.), Cost-Benefit Analysis and Crime Control, Urban Institute Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2010-Nov
A new book examined key areas of criminal justice policy-making in Scotland, in particular the extent to which criminal justice in Scotland was increasingly divergent from other United Kingdom jurisdictions.
Source: Hazel Croall, Gerry Mooney and Mary Munro (eds.), Criminal Justice in Scotland, Willan Publishing
Links: Summary
Date: 2010-Nov
A briefing paper examined the provisions of the Justice Bill 2010, introduced in the Northern Ireland Assembly in October 2010. The Bill contained a wide range of provisions in relation to the criminal justice system, largely mirroring arrangements already existing in the rest of the United Kingdom.
Source: Justice Bill 2010, Briefing Note 172/10, Northern Ireland Assembly
Links: Briefing
Date: 2010-Nov
The Home Office published a business plan for the period 2011-2015.
Source: Business Plan 2011-2015, Home Office
Links: Plan | Home Office press release | Alcohol Policy UK press release
Date: 2010-Nov
An official advisory body began consultation on new rules to determine who was fit or unfit to stand trial. It said that the way 'unfitness' was defined was out of date, and that the way the courts dealt with people who were unfit failed to achieve just outcomes. The 'unfitness to plead' procedure should be brought it into line with modern psychiatric thinking: the focus should be on whether an accused person could play a meaningful and effective part in the trial, and make relevant decisions about their defence.
Source: Unfitness to Plead: A consultation paper, LC197, Law Commission
Links: Consultation document | Morning Star report
Date: 2010-Oct
The coalition government announced reviews of the vetting and barring scheme (the system of checks on people working with children and vulnerable adults) and the criminal records regime.
Source: Written Ministerial Statement 22 October 2010, columns 77-78WS, House of Commons Hansard/TSO
Links: Hansard | Home Office press release | Manifesto Club press release | REC press release | Children & Young People Now report | BBC report | Nursery World report
Date: 2010-Oct
The prosecution service inspectorate said that failure to serve timely evidence was leading to cases being discharged – and ultimately not being brought to justice. Better management of this type of case could save the criminal justice system a significant amount of money.
Source: Abandoned Prosecutions: An audit of CPS performance relating to the handling of discharged committals, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate
Links: Report | HMCPSI press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2010-Oct
The Supreme Court ruled that the practice by the police in Scotland of interviewing suspected criminals without having their lawyer present was a breach of their human rights. The Scottish Government said that it would change the law as quickly as possible in order to comply with the ruling.
Source: Cadder v Her Majesty's Advocate (Scotland), UKSC 43 (2010), United Kingdom Supreme Court
Links: Text of judgement | Scottish Government press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2010-Oct
The coalition government announced (in its 2010 Spending Review) that the Home Office budget would be cut by 25 per cent in real terms by 2014-15. Grants to police forces in England and Wales would be cut by 20 per cent. Spending by the Ministry of Justice would be cut by 20 per cent: plans to increase prison capacity to 96, 000 by 2014 would be scaled back.
Source: Spending Review 2010, Cm 7942, HM Treasury/TSO
Links: Report | Summary | Hansard | HMT press releases | Home Office press release | MOJ press release | APF press release | Law Society press release | Police Federation press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Children & Young People Now report | Telegraph report (1) | Telegraph report (2)
Date: 2010-Oct
Two discussion papers examined the new coalition government's commitment to the 'Big Society' and 'localism', and what it might mean for voluntary and community sector organizations working with offenders.
Source: Big Society: Constraints and Potentials, Clinks | Localising Justice: How can we increase local VCS involvement in service design and delivery?, Clinks
Links: Discussion paper (1) | Discussion paper (2)
Date: 2010-Sep
A new book debated the issue of restorative justice. One of the authors said that communities and the state should be more restorative in responding to harms caused by crimes, anti-social behaviour, and other incivilities. The other author said that the theoretical cogency of restorative ideas was limited by their lack of a coherent analysis of social and political power.
Source: Chris Cunneen and Carolyn Hoyle, Debating Restorative Justice, Hart Publishing
Links: Summary
Date: 2010-Sep
A report examined access to criminal defence services. Most recommendations in the report were concerned with the need for further research, including whether early liaison between the police, Crown Prosecution Service, and defence solicitors would help to deal with cases more effectively and efficiently – both in police stations and at court.
Source: Vicky Kemp, Transforming Legal Aid: Access to criminal defence services, Legal Services Research Centre/Legal Services Commission
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Sep
An article examined the consequences of the Criminal Justice 2003 in three specific areas: community penalties, recalls, and public protection sentences. It said that the Act had been an 'unwise' exercise in sentencing reform, and an excellent lesson in the law of unintended consequences.
Source: Pete Marston, 'Legislate in haste, repent at leisure: the Criminal Justice Act 2003 and its consequences', Probation Journal, Volume 57 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Sep
An article examined the role of economic analysis in criminal justice policy. The economic situation made it 'increasingly untenable' for the government to continue increasing prison capacity without consideration of more efficient alternatives.
Source: Chris Fox and Kevin Albertson, 'Could economics solve the prison crisis?', Probation Journal, Volume 57 Number 3 Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Sep
A think-tank report examined alternatives to imprisonment that were cost-effective, progressive, and able to secure public confidence. It said that reformers needed support to get better at designing, rapidly testing, and then scaling up innovations.
Source: Anton Shelupanov and Rushanara Ali, Turning the Corner: Beyond incarceration and re-offending, Young Foundation
Date: 2010-Aug
A study evaluated the unpaid reparative work conditional caution pilot, under which offenders made good any damage they had caused by carrying out up to 20 hours of specified work.
Source: Linda Rice, Conditional Cautions: Lessons learnt from the unpaid reparative work pilot implementation, Research Summary 5/10, Ministry of Justice
Links: Summary
Date: 2010-Jul
A new book examined multi-agency work across the criminal justice system.
Source: Aaron Pycroft and Dennis Gough (eds.), Multi-Agency Working in Criminal Justice: Control and care in contemporary correctional practice, Policy Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2010-Jul
A think-tank report said that the criminal justice and addiction treatment systems had become 'dysfunctional and wasteful', and were in need of radical reform. A policy of centralization during the previous Labour government had been an expensive failure, denying communities the power to deal with local crime in a way that was appropriate to their specific area.
Source: Green Paper on Criminal Justice and Addiction, Centre for Social Justice
Links: Report | CSJ press release | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Jul
An article said that pre-sentence reports helped to 'pacify the lingering unease' felt by legal professionals that the everyday summary court processes might be too abrupt, abstract, and impersonal.
Source: Cyrus Tata, 'A sense of justice: the role of pre-sentence reports in the production (and disruption) of guilt and guilty pleas', Punishment and Society, Volume 12 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Jul
A report examined trends in public confidence in the criminal justice system. In 2007-08, 44 per cent of adults in England and Wales were confident that the system was effective in bringing people who committed crimes to justice – compared with 39 per cent in 2002-03.
Source: Dominic Smith, Public Confidence in the Criminal Justice System: Findings from the British Crime Survey 2002/03 to 2007/08, Research Report 16/10, Ministry of Justice
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Jul
Researchers examined the court experiences of adults with mental health conditions, learning disabilities, or limited mental capacity.
Source: Rosie McLeod, Cassie Philpin, Anna Sweeting, Lucy Joyce and Roger Evans, Court Experience of Adults with Mental Health Conditions, Learning Disabilities and Limited Mental Capacity, Research Reports 8/10-13/10, Ministry of Justice
Links: Reports (links)
Date: 2010-Jul
A briefing paper said that the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) had failed to deliver its prime objective of a merged, effective, prison and probation service. The existence of NOMS undermined the ability of the probation service to achieve its fundamental aims of preventing reoffending, and offender supervision.
Source: Performance of NOMS: The case for restructuring, National Association of Probation Officers
Links: Briefing | NAPO press release | New Start report
Date: 2010-Jul
An audit report reviewed the data systems used to support delivery of the Labour government's public service agreement 24 – to 'deliver a more effective, transparent and responsive criminal justice system for victims and the public' – over the period from 2008.
Source: Review of the Data Systems for Public Service Agreement 24, National Audit Office
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Jun
A new book examined the tension between the rights of individuals detained under criminal/mental health law and the responsibility for public protection, in the area of executive discretion over mentally disordered offenders.
Source: Tessa Boyd-Caine, Protecting the Public? Detention and release of mentally disordered offenders, Willan Publishing
Links: Summary
Date: 2010-Jun
The High Court ruled as unlawful regulations introduced in 2009 that limited the costs awarded to people who funded their own defence in criminal cases to the same amount as for those on legal aid.
Source: Law Society of England and Wales, R (on the application of) v Lord Chancellor, High Court 15 June 2010
Links: Text of judgement | BBC report
Date: 2010-Jun
An interim report examined the major issues that impeded access to justice. It considered the existing situation; eligibility and scope for legal aid; and possible alternative funding options and procurement/delivery models.
Source: Access to Justice Review, Law Society
Links: Report | Law Society press release
Date: 2010-Apr
A report by a committee of MPs welcomed the devolution of policing and justice powers to the Northern Ireland Executive. But it highlighted 'significant challenges' ahead, including: the need to keep the police service independent; cutting the legal aid bill; reducing delay in the criminal justice system; funding and driving through improvements to prisons.
Source: Progress Towards Devolution in Northern Ireland During the 2005 Parliament, Seventh Report (Session 2009-10), HC 319, House of Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee/TSO
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Apr
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on criminal justice policy. It said that it agreed that in some cases more should be done to divert from custody those for whom a criminal sentence might not be the most appropriate response to their offending behaviour.
Source: Government Response to the Justice Committee's Report: Cutting Crime – The Case for Justice Reinvestment, Cm 7819, Ministry of Justice/TSO
Links: Response | Hansard | MPs report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Mar
An inspectorate report in Northern Ireland urged criminal justice agencies to work together to address the needs of individuals presenting with mental health difficulties who engaged with the criminal justice system. It said that all criminal justice organizations should look at ways of developing screening and assessment processes to identify at an early stage those who should be diverted away from the justice system and provided with suitable care in the most appropriate setting.
Source: Not a Marginal Issue: Mental health and the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland, Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland
Links: Report | CJINI press release | NIE press release
Date: 2010-Mar
An inspectorate report in Northern Ireland said that the work being undertaken by offenders participating in community service schemes was socially useful and of benefit to the community.
Source: An Inspection of the Probation Board for Northern Ireland Community Service Scheme, Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland
Links: Report | CJINI press release | PBNI press release
Date: 2010-Mar
An audit report said that the Home Office had improved its approach to managing the portfolio of major projects for which it was responsible.
Source: Home Office: Management of Major Projects, HC 489 (Session 2009-10), National Audit Office/TSO
Links: Report | NAO press release
Date: 2010-Mar
A think-tank report set out a 'radical new approach' to tackling reoffending within tight budget constraints. It proposed: splitting the short- and long-term prison populations to enable more accountable rehabilitation of persistent offenders on short-term sentences; and contracting out offender management for all those on short-term sentences to regional providers paid by results to reduce recidivism.
Source: Ian Mulheirn, Barney Gough and Verena Menne, Prison Break: Tackling recidivism, reducing costs, Social Market Foundation
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Mar
A report examined the implications for local government of changes in the way in which the Legal Services Commission funded legal advice, through community legal advice centres and networks. It considered the options available to local authorities that wished to make changes to the existing provision of advice in their area; key lessons for local authorities that could be drawn from experiences of developing community legal advice; and wider implications, risks, and dilemmas for local authorities moving to commission other services where voluntary sector providers played a prominent role.
Source: Tribal Group, Early Lessons from Changes to Legal Advice Provision and Funding: The local authority experience, Local Government Association
Date: 2010-Mar
A think-tank report called for the establishment of a single Financial Crimes Enforcement Agency to tackle serious fraud, corruption, and financial market crimes. It said that the existing system of investigation and prosecution was ineffective at tackling corporate crime, with an institutional mess of agencies involved, ineffectual fines, half-hearted civil prosecutions, and an apparent inability to secure criminal convictions by the financial services watchdog.
Source: Jonathan Fisher, Fighting Fraud and Financial Crime: A new architecture for the investigation and prosecution of serious fraud, corruption and financial market crimes, Policy Exchange
Links: Report | Policy Exchange press release
Date: 2010-Mar
The prosecution service inspectorate said that progress had been made in the Crown Prosecution Service's handling of cases involving custody time limits – 'substantially attributable' to the introduction of a national standard.
Source: Custody Time Limits: A report relating to the handling of custody time limits by the Crown Prosecution Service, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate
Links: Report | Summary | HMCPSI press release
Date: 2010-Mar
The report of an official review made recommendations designed to improve the system of legal aid delivery, and set out options for structural change. The government said that it would make the Legal Services Commission into an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice, in order to achieve tighter financial control over the £2.1 billion budget.
Source: Ian Magee, Review of Legal Aid Delivery and Governance, Ministry of Justice
Links: Report | Hansard | MOJ press release | LSC press release | Bar Council press release | Guardian report
Date: 2010-Mar
A report outlined the findings of research on awareness of local community payback projects and criminal justice engagement initiatives across four pioneer areas, and how the public had responded to them.
Source: Louise Moore, Annabelle Phillips and Katya Kostadintcheva, Community Payback and Local Criminal Justice Engagement Initiatives: Public Perceptions and Awareness, Ministry of Justice
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Mar
A study examined the fairness of the jury decision-making process, including whether all-white juries discriminated against black or minority-ethnic defendants, whether jurors understood legal directions, and whether jurors were aware of media coverage of their cases. There was 'little evidence' that juries were not fair: but there were several areas where the criminal justice system should improve support to jurors in performing their role.
Source: Cheryl Thomas, Are Juries Fair?, Research Report 1/10, Ministry of Justice
Links: Report | MOJ press release | Judicial Communications Office press release | Guardian report | Telegraph report (1) | Telegraph report (2)
Date: 2010-Feb
A report by a committee of MPs said that the Legal Services Commission had successfully halted the increase in legal aid spending in the previous five years: but the Commission displayed poor financial management and internal controls, and deficient management information. Moreover, there were gaps in the arrangements to assure the quality of criminal legal aid procured, which make it harder to assess whether the services delivered represent good value for money.
Source: The Procurement of Legal Aid in England and Wales by the Legal Services Commission, Ninth Report (Session 2009-10), HC 322, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee/TSO
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Feb
An official advisory body recommended a package of reforms designed to increase the diversity of the judiciary. It recommended a fundamental shift in approach – towards one that addressed diversity systematically throughout a judicial career. It proposed the creation of a judicial diversity taskforce to oversee the delivery of reform and to be responsible for progress.
Source: The Report of the Advisory Panel on Judicial Diversity 2010, Ministry of Justice
Links: Report | Hansard | MOJ press release | Judicial Communications Office press release | Law Society press release | Guardian report
Date: 2010-Feb
A report said that the needs of minority-ethnic women were frequently rendered invisible in the criminal justice system as offenders, victims, and workers in the justice sector, as they faced double discrimination on the grounds of sex and race. They were over-represented within the female offender population, and under-represented as workers within the criminal justice system particularly at senior levels.
Source: Sharon Smee and Zohra Moosa, Realising Rights: Increasing ethnic minority women's access to justice, Fawcett Society
Links: Report | Fawcett Society press release
Date: 2010-Feb
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the role of the Crown Prosecution Service.
Source: The Crown Prosecution Service: Gatekeeper of the Criminal Justice System – Government Response to the Committee's Ninth Report, Second Special Report (Session 2009-10), HC 245, House of Commons Justice Select Committee/TSO
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2010-Jan
A report by a committee of MPs said that the criminal justice system was facing a 'crisis of sustainability'. Prison was a relatively ineffective way of reducing crime for other than serious offenders: but an unthinking acceptance had evolved of punishment – for its own sake – as the paramount purpose of sentencing. If reform, rehabilitation, and reparation to victims were given higher priority, then sentencing and penal policy overall could make a much more significant contribution to reducing reoffending and making communities safer.
Source: Cutting Crime: The case for justice reinvestment, First Report (Session 2009-10), HC 94, House of Commons Justice Select Committee/TSO
Links: Report | Sainsbury Centre press release | PRT press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2010-Jan