A think-tank report examined the role and responsibility of the Crown Prosecution Service. It said that the service should retain its existing powers: but it called for more transparency and accountability when it came to measuring the organization's successes and failures.
Source: Karen Sosa, In the Public Interest: Reforming the Crown Prosecution Service, Policy Exchange
Links: Report | Policy Exchange press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2012-Dec
A new textbook provided an introduction to the theoretical, policy, and operational issues faced by the criminal justice systems in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
Source: Azrini Wahidin and Nicola Carr, Understanding Criminal Justice: A critical introduction, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Dec
The Scottish Government began consultation on how best to plan, deliver, and manage offender services in Scotland's communities – including community sentences, supporting the rehabilitation of offenders, and reducing reoffending.
Source: Redesigning the Community Justice System: A consultation on proposals, Scottish Government
Links: Consultation document | Scottish Government press release
Date: 2012-Dec
The first in a new annual series of reviews examined criminal justice policy over the year to May 2011, and presented key data on the criminal justice system.
Source: Richard Garside and Helen Mills, UK Justice Policy Review: Volume 1, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (King's College London)
Links: Report | CCJS press release
Date: 2012-Nov
A special issue of a journal examined the continuing impact of sectarian conflict on the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland.
Source: Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, Volume 51 Issue 5
Links: Table of contents
Date: 2012-Nov
The coalition government published an action plan on the use of restorative justice in England and Wales.
Source: Restorative Justice Action Plan for the Criminal Justice System, Ministry of Justice
Links: Action plan | MOJ press release
Date: 2012-Nov
The coalition government announced a pilot project (in 9 areas) under which the police would be able to take a wider range of offences through the courts without consulting the Crown Prosecution Service. It estimated that the measure would increase the number of police-led prosecutions by more than 90,000 each year.
Source: Written Ministerial Statement 23 October 2012, column 49WS, House of Commons Hansard, TSO
Links: Hansard | Home Office press release
Date: 2012-Oct
A think-tank report examined national and local initiatives designed to integrate criminal justice and emergency services. The benefits of such integration included significant reductions in crime, improved performance, and reduced costs of administration. The coalition government was right to identify police and crime commissioners as the best integrator of criminal justice services, and should devolve a wide range of services to them, effectively doubling their budgets.
Source: Andrew Haldenby, Tara Majumdar, and Will Tanner, Doing It Justice: Integrating criminal justice and emergency services through police and crime commissioners, Reform
Date: 2012-Oct
A new book examined the treatment of substance misuse (including alcohol) and mental health problems within the criminal justice system.
Source: Aaron Pycroft and Suzie Clift (eds), Risk and Rehabilitation: Management and treatment of substance misuse and mental health problems in the criminal justice system, Policy Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Oct
Campaigners strongly criticized the coalition government's plans for a substantial extension of the use of secret evidence in the justice system. It said that the measures, contained in the Justice and Security Bill, would allow the government to use so-called 'closed material procedures' to prevent individuals and their lawyers from seeing documents even when they showed the involvement of officials in wrongdoing, no matter how grave. If such disclosures were deemed to harm 'national security', then the material could be withheld, potentially indefinitely, even if there was an overwhelming public interest in disclosure.
Source: Left in the Dark: The use of secret evidence in the United Kingdom, Amnesty International UK
Links: Report | Amnesty press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2012-Oct
A joint inspectorate report said that restorative justice was being used effectively in all areas of the criminal justice system: but patchy take-up and inconsistent application meant that not all victims, offenders, and communities were able to access the evidenced benefits that it offered.
Source: Facing up to Offending: Use of restorative justice in the criminal justice system, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate/HM Inspectorate of Constabulary/HM Inspectorate of Prisons/HM Inspectorate of Probation
Links: Report | Inspectorate press release | ACPO press release | Public Finance report
Date: 2012-Sep
A report provided a comparative picture of judicial systems in 46 European states and the main trends in judicial policies.
Source: European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice, European Judicial Systems: Edition 2010 (data 2008) – Efficiency and quality of justice, Council of Europe
Links: Report | Council of Europe press release | Guardian report | Full Fact comment
Date: 2012-Sep
A report examined special measures for vulnerable and intimidated witnesses, and identified areas where improvements might be made when prosecutors considered potential special measures applications.
Source: Corrine Charles, Special Measures for Vulnerable and Intimidated Witnesses: Research exploring the decisions and actions taken by prosecutors in a sample of CPS case files, Crown Prosecution Service
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Aug
A new book examined debates about gender representation in the judiciary and the importance of judicial diversity. It considered the role of the (woman) judge and the process of judging, and the assumptions that underpinned and constrained debates about why a more diverse judiciary was desirable and how it could be achieved.
Source: Erika Rackley (ed.), Women, Judging and the Judiciary: From difference to diversity, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Aug
A new book presented a theory of criminal careers using the Home Office Offenders Index (a database of all criminal convictions in England and Wales since 1963). It said that the theory accurately predicted the prison population contingent on a given sentencing policy. Increasing the probability of conviction after each offence was the most effective way of reducing crime, although there was a role for treatment programmes for some offenders.
Source: John MacLeod, Peter Grove, and David Farrington, Explaining Criminal Careers: Implications for justice policy, Oxford University Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Aug
An article examined whether the confidence of immigrants in European countries in criminal justice institutions could be explained by two counteracting processes: expectations formed in the country of origin and discrimination experienced in the residence country. The data strongly supported the hypothesis that the high confidence of first-generation immigrants could be explained by frames of reference formed in the country of origin. Some, but limited, support was also found for the impact of discrimination.
Source: Antje Roder and Peter Muhlau, 'What determines the trust of immigrants in criminal justice institutions in Europe?', European Journal of Criminology, Volume 9 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Aug
A think-tank report said that there was widespread inconsistency in the use of out-of-court disposals such as cautions and penalty notices. Some serious offenders were escaping justice by avoiding prosecution or because many simply did not pay a penalty notice.
Source: Karen Sosa, Proceed with Caution: Use of out-of-court disposals in England & Wales, Policy Exchange
Links: Report | ACPO press release
Date: 2012-Jul
An article described the origins of a programme of comparative research into cross-national variations in public trust in justice and in the police in Europe. It also outlined some of the early findings.
Source: Mike Hough, 'Researching trust in the police and trust in justice: a UK perspective', Policing and Society, Volume 22 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jul
A new book examined a number of connected themes relating to compliance, legitimacy, and trust in different areas of criminal justice and social regulation. It included chapters on: the legitimacy of penal policies; compliance with community penalties; compliance with electronically monitored curfew orders; the regulation of youth anti-social behaviour; and defiance towards tax authorities.
Source: Adam Crawford and Anthea Hucklesby (eds), Legitimacy and Compliance in Criminal Justice, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Jul
Researchers examined 'attrition' in the criminal justice system for a sample of serious offences (rape, sexual assault, grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent, and GBH without intent). They followed the criminal justice process from allegation to outcome, including regrading, decision to charge, circumstance of victims and suspects, and false allegations.
Source: Mandy Burton, Rosie McLeod, Vanessa de Guzman, Roger Evans, Helen Lambert, and Gemma Cass, Understanding the Progression of Serious Cases Through the Criminal Justice System: Evidence drawn from a selection of casefiles, Research Report 11/12, Ministry of Justice
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Jul
A literature review examined evidence on what public attitudes to the justice system were, what drove these attitudes, what effect these attitudes had on behaviour, and what worked to improve such attitudes. The most important drivers of people's attitudes to the justice system were personal experiences.
Source: Carole Wilson, The Public and the Justice System: Attitudes, drivers and behaviour – A literature review, Scottish Government
Date: 2012-Jun
A think-tank report examined the implications of new digital technology for how the criminal justice system served the victims of crime. It said that the technology had the potential to make criminal justice agencies more accountable, participatory, collaborative, accessible, responsive, and efficient.
Source: Rick Muir, Open Justice: Empowering victims through data and technology, Institute for Public Policy Research
Links: Report | Victim Support press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Jun
A report said that greater support needed to be given to vulnerable defendants in order for them to get a fair trial, particularly those with learning difficulties who might have problems understanding the process.
Source: Jenny Talbot, Fair Access to Justice? Support for vulnerable defendants in the criminal courts, Prison Reform Trust
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Jun
A collection of essays examined the role of the public, private, and voluntary sectors in prisons and probation.
Source: Vicki Helyar-Cardwell (ed.), Delivering Justice: The role of the public, private and voluntary sectors in prisons and probation, Criminal Justice Alliance
Links: Report
Date: 2012-May
A new book examined issues related to the future of the magistracy, including: resources, professionalism, community justice, and localism.
Source: David Faulkner (ed.) (with Sally Dickinson), The Magistracy at the Crossroads, Waterside Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-May
Researchers examined the benefits of neighbourhood crime and justice co-ordinators, and what had made the role effective. In general, the role was perceived as having a positive effect, with practitioners identifying a range of benefits – though this was not a universal view.
Source: Michelle Charlton, Jane Lawrence, and Sarah Morton, Practitioners Perceptions of the Role of Neighbourhood Crime and Justice Co-Ordinators, Research Report 62, Home Office
Links: Report
Notes: Neighbourhood crime and justice co-ordinators were set up in November 2008 in order to raise public awareness of the work of community safety, crime, and criminal justice agencies; and to encourage the public to engage with them.
Date: 2012-May
A new book examined mental incapacity in criminal law, focusing on the complex interaction of legal doctrines, practices, and knowledge (both expert and non-expert).
Source: Arlie Loughnan, Manifest Madness: Mental incapacity in the criminal law, Oxford University Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Apr
An inspectorate report in Northern Ireland called for the introduction of a witness charter. Many people who were the victims of, or witnesses to, crimes found that the criminal justice process was stressful and fear-inducing. Special measures were of vital importance in helping vulnerable and intimidated witnesses to give their best evidence.
Source: The Use of Special Measures in the Criminal Justice System in Northern Ireland, Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland
Links: Report | CJINI press release
Date: 2012-Apr
A think-tank report said that the system for senior judicial appointments was in need of significant reform. It highlighted the preponderance of white men among senior judges, and said that the appointment process should contain a better balance between judges, laypersons, and politicians.
Source: Alan Paterson and Chris Paterson, Guarding the Guardians? Towards an independent, accountable and diverse senior judiciary, CentreForum
Links: Report | CentreForum press release
Date: 2012-Mar
A new book examined miscarriages of justice, and questioned the view that cases of wrongful imprisonment were rare and exceptional.
Source: Michael Naughton, Rethinking Miscarriages of Justice: Beyond the tip of the iceberg, Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Mar
A new book examined the implications of contemporary technology for the practice of criminal justice.
Source: Mike McGuire, Technology, Crime and Justice: The question concerning 'technomia', Willan Publishing
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Feb
A report by a committee of MSPs said that it welcomed a recent reduction in reoffending rates: but it was 'not convinced' that services for offenders were being effectively targeted, given that a national picture of services provided by the Scottish Prison Service or by community justice authorities had only recently been undertaken.
Source: An Overview of Scotland's Criminal Justice System, 1st Report 2012, SP Paper 70, Scottish Parliament Public Audit Committee
Links: Report | Scottish Parliament press release
Date: 2012-Feb
A joint inspectorate report said that young victims and witnesses were 'left to flounder' in an imperfect justice system, and that only limited progress had been made in addressing the recommendations made in a previous report in 2009.
Source: Joint Inspection Report on the Experience of Young Victims and Witnesses in the Criminal Justice System, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate/HM Inspectorate of Constabulary
Links: Report | Inspectorate press release
Date: 2012-Feb
A report by a committee of MPs said that the law on 'joint enterprise' was vital to ensuring the prosecution and conviction of criminals involved in gang-related violence: but it had become so complex that juries might find it impossible to understand how to reach the right verdict. Legislation was needed to end the high number of cases reaching the Court of Appeal.
Source: Joint Enterprise, Eleventh Report (Session 2010-12), HC 1597, House of Commons Justice Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Additional written evidence | Labour Party press release | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Jan
A report drew on results from the European Social Survey to examine trust in criminal justice systems. People in Nordic countries were the most trusting of their police and courts and believed that their institutions were legitimate holders of power and authority: whereas people in eastern and sometimes southern European countries tended to be less trusting.
Source: Jonathan Jackson, Mike Hough, Ben Bradford, Tia Pooler, Katrin Hohl, and Jouni Kuha, Trust in Justice: Topline results from round 5, ESS Central Coordinating Team, City University
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Jan
A report examined solutions to the over-representation of ethnic minorities in the criminal justice system. Although tackling institutional and individual racism should still be a priority, it was crucial that wider inequalities in employment, pay, education, and housing were tackled in order to reduce the numbers of black and minority-ethnic people in the criminal justice system.
Source: Kjartan Pall Sveinsson (ed.), Criminal Justice v. Racial Justice: Minority ethnic overrepresentation in the criminal justice system, Runnymede Trust
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Jan