prisoners

Final report of the Commission on Women Offenders, which was established to examine how female offenders are dealt with in the criminal justice system.

Document which sets out the context of the inspecting year 2010-11, discusses the main issues, as well as other trends and the areas of special interest that were set out in the previous year.

The Justice Committee believes that the effective rehabilitation of offenders is vital in order to reduce crime levels, reduce the economic and social costs of crime and help create a safer Scotland. It also enables those individuals who have offended, for a variety of reasons, to choose a better life for themselves, their families and communities.

Assessment that focuses on the economic impact of the work carried out by the programme on behalf of prisoners and their families. The research is based on case studies, administrative data provided by the programme and interviews with programme staff.

Paper that looks at features of the criminal justice systems in operation in the Netherlands and Germany and analyses changes in prison numbers in order to see whether any lessons might usefully be considered in England and Wales.

There is a particular focus on Germany and the Netherlands as these are countries which share certain similarities with the UK.

Report that begins by considering how the female prison population has increased, why this has happened and what the consequences have been. This is followed by a review of the way the Labour government sought to reduce the number of women going to prison and the very limited impact its policies had in practice.

The report concludes by considering what the current government has achieved during its first two years in office; and what changes might be needed if the number of women entering prison is really to fall.

Subject map which is one of six covering various aspects of the Scottish criminal justice system. It provides a brief description of the operation of the prison service in Scotland, including information on the current system of early release for prisoners.

In March 2010, Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJI) published a report into the treatment of people with mental health problems in the criminal justice system, starting with the police, moving through the prosecution to the courts and ending up with prisons and probation.

The report – while noting some excellent practice – documented a range of deficiencies with current arrangements and highlighted the enormous challenges the treatment of people with mental health issues presented to the criminal justice agencies.