The government published a strategy document that set out a comprehensive series of reforms covering welfare, crime and policing, children and young people, business rules, immigration and communities. It said that the reforms were designed to 'bring people together and steer the country through the global economic downturn'. There were over 50 measures to strengthen the rules that tied communities together, strengthened enforcement, and provided for clearer consequences for rule-breakers.
Source: Fair Rules for Strong Communities, Cabinet Office (020 7261 8527) and other departments
Links: Report | Cabinet Office press release
Date: 2008-Dec
The Ministry of Justice published its 2008 autumn performance report, showing progress against public service agreement targets.
Source: Autumn Performance Report 2008, Cm 7525, Ministry of Justice, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Dec
The government announced (in the Queen's Speech) plans for a Coroners and Justice Bill. The Bill would provide for 'investigative witness anonymity' to protect witnesses to gang-related killings; reform murder law, including abolishing the partial defence of provocation; 'modernize' the law on assisted suicide to increase 'public understanding'; establish a Sentencing Council for England and Wales to make sentencing more consistent; and introduce a scheme to stop criminals selling their stories to the media.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Debate 3 December 2008, columns 8-9, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | NO2ID press release | INQUEST press release | SPUC press release
Date: 2008-Dec
The government published a Policing and Crime Bill. The Bill provided for tighter controls around lapdancing clubs, with venues having to apply for the same type of licences as sex shops. There would be a crackdown on binge drinking, with pubs and clubs possibly having to sign up to a compulsory code of conduct, banning some promotions which were seen to encourage drunkenness. The Bill would strengthen sex offender prevention orders and foreign travel orders. But the government withdrew plans to introduce direct elections for police authorities in England and Wales.
Source: Policing and Crime Bill, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Home Office press release | ACPO press release | Police Federation press release | Fawcett Society press release | Addaction press release | NLGN press release (1) | NLGN press release (2) | LGA press release | LGA briefing | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Guardian report (3) | Guardian report (4) | Telegraph report (1) | Telegraph report (2) | BBC report
Date: 2008-Dec
A new book examined public views on criminal justice, focusing on public opinion towards specific types of offenders, such as sex offenders and mentally disordered offenders.
Source: Jane Wood and Theresa Gannon (eds.), Public Opinion and Criminal Justice, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Dec
The Home Office published its autumn 2008 performance report, showing progress against its public service agreement targets.
Source: Autumn Performance Report 2008, Cm 7512, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Dec
A report by a committee of peers examined recent developments concerning relations between government ministers, judges, and parliament. It called for the ministerial code to be amended so that it gave 'clear and unambiguous' guidance to ministers about how they should or should not comment about judges in public.
Source: Relations Between the Executive, the Judiciary and Parliament: Follow-up Report, 11th Report (Session 2007-08), HL 177, House of Lords Constitution Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Oct
An article examined explanations for the succession of crises experienced by the Home Office during 2006 and 2007. Although some of the reasons related to characteristics and shortcomings of the institution itself, malfunctions in contemporary governance also played a part – raising fundamental questions concerning citizenship, the public domain, and public policy processes.
Source: Chris Painter, 'A government department in meltdown: crisis at the Home Office', Public Money and Management, Volume 28 Issue 5
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Oct
A new book said that traditional understandings of what constituted community safety had created a skewed understanding of crime and disorder that ignored the real threats to community cohesion and well-being. It offered a different conceptual understanding of community safety, based on a more proportionate understanding of social harms inflicted on communities.
Source: Charlie Cooper, Community, Conflict and the State: Rethinking notions of 'safety', 'cohesion' and 'well-being', Palgrave Macmillan (01256 329242)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Sep
A think-tank report said that people had become 'passive bystanders' in the criminal justice system, uninformed about crime and punishment and less likely to participate in maintaining justice than people in other countries. It called for the 'radical decentralization' of the criminal justice system – including the creation of locally elected 'justice commissioners', whom people could hold accountable for the maintenance of order and pay for through local taxes.
Source: Richard Giangrande et al., The Lawful Society, Reform (020 7799 6699)
Links: Report | ACPO press release
Date: 2008-Sep
A report provided an overview of crime and justice policies in Scotland in 2006-07. It said that the high use of imprisonment did not benefit Scotland's communities nor make them safer places to live.
Source: Crime & Justice in Scotland 2006/07: A third review of progress, Scottish Consortium on Crime & Criminal Justice (0131 669 4484)
Links: Report | SCCCJ press release
Date: 2008-Aug
A report said that the Home Office Board had taken the recommendations of a 'capability review' published in 2006 very seriously, and had used them as a platform to build 'visible, strong and collective leadership and a clearer direction' for the Department.
Source: Home Office: Progress and Next Steps, Cabinet Office (020 7261 8527)
Links: Report | Cabinet Office press release | FT report
Date: 2008-Jul
A think-tank report examined the factors influencing offending, and put forward alternatives designed to reduce the chances of re-offending.
Source: Rob Allen (ed.), Routes In and Out of Criminal Justice, Smith Institute (020 7592 3618)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Jul
A new book examined the recent approach to criminal justice which emphasized the role of social exclusion, dysfunctional and anti-social families, and situational crime prevention – leading to the 'criminalization of social policy', evidenced by the anti-social behaviour and 'respect' agendas.
Source: John Rodger, Criminalising Social Policy: Anti-social behaviour and welfare in a de-civilised society, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Jul
A report by a joint committee of MPs and peers commended the government for taking the first steps towards its stated objective of making government more accountable to Parliament. However, the committee had found it 'difficult to discern' the principles underpinning the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill, and asked the government to reflect further on whether 'Constitutional Renewal' was an appropriate title.
Source: Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill, HC 551 and HL 166, Joint Committee on Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill (House of Lords and House of Commons) Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | BBC report
Date: 2008-Jul
A briefing paper said that the government's analysis of factors driving up the prison population was 'inadequate' and 'highly misleading'. The increased use of imprisonment had not been driven by more offences being brought to justice: rather, courts were behaving more punitively. The public appetite for prison was more limited and more susceptible to reasoned argument than the government acknowledged. Expanding the prison estate would generate, not satiate, demand.
Source: Carol Hedderman, Building On Sand: Why expanding the prison estate is not the way to 'secure the future', Centre for Crime and Justice Studies/King's College London (020 7848 1688)
Links: Report | CCJS press release | Leicester University press release | Liberal Democrats press release
Date: 2008-Jul
A new book examined key relationships between material circumstances and crime, and analyzed the areas of social policy – in particular social security and labour market policy – that were most important in terms of dealing with inequality at the lower end of the income hierarchy. It sought to explain why inequality was linked to offending behaviour, and the evidence underpinning explanations for this, and looked in detail at the relationship between offending and anti-social behaviour and its management through social policy interventions.
Source: Chris Grover, Crime and Inequality, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Jul
A manifesto was published for action to reform the criminal justice system. It said that the government should announce a moratorium on prison building, and spend the £2.3 billion earmarked for new prison places on alternative measures to deal with offenders more effectively in the community.
Source: Rethinking Crime and Punishment: The Manifesto, Esme? Fairbairn Foundation (020 7297 4700)
Links: Manifesto
Date: 2008-Jul
A report by a committee of MPs said that proposed changes to the role of the Attorney General did not go far enough. The role of government's chief legal adviser should not be held by a politician.
Source: Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill (Provisions Relating to the Attorney General), Fourth Report (Session 2007-08), HC 698, House of Commons Justice Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | BBC report
Date: 2008-Jun
The report was published of a government review which examined how to better engage communities in the fight against crime and raise public confidence in the criminal justice system. It made more than 30 proposals designed to reduce crime, create safer communities, and increase public confidence in the system. Recommendations included: the appointment of a 'Public Commissioner on Crime' to be the independent voice of victims of crime, and to champion crime issues on behalf of the wider public; greater protection for vulnerable victims and witnesses, including special measures for older or disabled people; and neighbourhood policing teams to have a common name, identity, and level of service that the public could expect across all forces.
Source: Louise Casey, Engaging Communities in Fighting Crime, Cabinet Office (020 7261 8527)
Links: Report | Summary | Home Office press release | Cabinet Office press release | Nacro press release | ACPO press release | Police Federation press release | Liberal Democrats press release | BBC report | Telegraph report | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Jun
An article examined the potential of restorative justice (in particular, conferencing) to bring about reductions in re-offending. There was a case to be made for a subtle shift in ways of thinking about the recidivism-reduction potential of restorative justice: that is, as an opportunity to facilitate a desire, or consolidate a decision, to desist.
Source: Gwen Robinson and Joanna Shapland, 'Reducing recidivism: a task for restorative justice?', British Journal of Criminology, Volume 48 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-May
The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 was given Royal assent. The Act included measures to: end automatic sentence discounts for offenders resentenced to an indeterminate sentence after an initial sentencing decision had been ruled unduly lenient; stop the 'plainly guilty' having their convictions quashed because of procedural irregularities; give powers for courts to make dangerous offenders given a discretionary life sentence serve a higher proportion of their tariff before becoming eligible for parole consideration; and create a presumption that trials in magistrates' courts would proceed in the absence of the accused. An amendment to the Bill abolished the offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel.
Source: Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, Ministry of Justice, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Act | Explanatory notes | NSS press release | BHA press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-May
A report said that the government's prison and probation policies were not working, and needed to be reformed if crime were to be lowered and public confidence in criminal justice restored.
Source: Getting Back on the Straight and Narrow: A better criminal justice system for all, Confederation of British Industry (020 7395 8247)
Links: Report | CBI press release
Date: 2008-May
An article said that there was a damaging tension between 'normative abolitionist' and 'pragmatic' visions of restorative justice.
Source: Theo Gavrielides, 'Restorative justice – the perplexing concept: conceptual fault-lines and power battles within the restorative justice movement', Criminology and Criminal Justice, Volume 8 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-May
The Law Officers' Departments published their annual report for 2007-08.
Source: Departmental Report 2008, Cm 7406, Law Officers' Departments, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-May
A new book examined the 'penal crisis' characterized by escalating resort to prisons, longer sentences, overcrowded and ineffective regimes, high rates of re-offending, and 'eclectic' penal policy. It said that the symptoms of this malaise were grounded in media sensationalism of crime and the need of politicians and their advisers to retain electoral credibility. Change was long overdue: but it required a fresh, contemporary penology based on restorative justice.
Source: David Cornwell, Doing Justice Better: The politics of restorative justice, Waterside Press (01962 855567)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-May
The Home Office published its annual report for 2007-08.
Source: Departmental Report 2008, Cm 7396, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-May
The government confirmed (in the draft Queen's Speech) plans to introduce a Constitutional Renewal Bill, designed to place the civil service on a statutory footing, and establish an Independent Commission for the Civil Service; reform the role of the Attorney General, who would no longer be able to give a direction to prosecutors in individual cases, save in certain exceptional circumstances; and reduce the role of the Lord Chancellor in judicial appointments below the level of the High Court.
Source: Preparing Britain for the Future: The government's draft legislative programme, Cm 7372, Office of the Leader of the House of Commons, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Draft Queens Speech | Amendments | MOJ press release | Guardian report
Date: 2008-May
The Ministry of Justice published its annual report for 2007-08.
Source: Departmental Report 2007/08, Cm 7397, Ministry of Justice, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-May
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the role of the Attorney General. The government had concluded, in line with the views of the majority of the respondents to a consultation, that the Attorney General should remain the government's chief legal adviser; and that the Attorney General should remain a minister and a member of one of the Houses of Parliament.
Source: The Government's Response to the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee Report on the Constitutional Role of the Attorney General, Cm 7355, Attorney General, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2008-Apr
A report said that the Home Office was deliberately ignoring evidence-based research on crime and punishment that conflicted with government policy.
Source: Tim Hope and Reece Walters, Critical Thinking About the Uses of Research, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies/King's College London (020 7848 1688)
Links: Report | CCJS press release | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Mar
A report said that although the concept of 'dangerousness' had became widely used, it remained poorly understood, and was contributing to a 'moral impoverishment of society', undermining care and compassion in social policy. It identified a growing concern with risk and attempts to minimize and control threats, and examined the way in which these concerns affected public understanding of the prison system.
Source: Jamie Bennett, The Social Costs of Dangerousness: Prison and the dangerous classes, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies/King's College London (020 7848 1688)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Mar
The Home Office published its strategy for the period 2008-2011. It revealed a new statement of purpose – 'working together to protect the public'.
Source: Working Together to Protect the Public: The Home Office strategy 2008-11, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Strategy
Date: 2008-Feb
The Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill was given a third reading. The Bill included measures to: end automatic sentence discounts for offenders re-sentenced to an indeterminate sentence after an initial sentencing decision had been ruled unduly lenient; stop the 'plainly guilty' having their convictions quashed because of procedural irregularities; give powers for courts to make dangerous offenders given a discretionary life sentence serve a higher proportion of their tariff before becoming eligible for parole consideration; and create a presumption that trials in magistrates' courts would proceed in the absence of the accused.
Source: Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill, Ministry of Justice, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 9 January 2008, columns 325-489, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard
Date: 2008-Jan