legal proceedings

Teaching guide to the Social Work and Law e-learning resources

This guide outlines the teaching and learning aims of the Social Care Institute for Excellence's interactive e-learning resources on law. These resources are freely available to all teaching staff and students of the Social Work degree and are designed to engage groups and individuals through simulations, quizzes, games and video and audio, which help bring the topics alive. Moreover, they are supported by evidence based research bringing out key issues and provide full referencing of the legislation.

The Body of Law

This learning object is suitable especially for an opening module, enabling discussion of the legal system. The Body of Law will make students aware of: how law is made; how social issues may be reflected in the legal rules; how the legal rules reflect the society of which they are a part; the relationship between national and international jurisdictions; the role of the judiciary and of case law; the separation of powers.

Provision of therapy for child witnesses prior to a criminal trial: practice guidance

The Crown Prosecution Service, the Department of Health and the Home Office have worked together to produce this guidance. The guidance is issued as part of the Action For Justice programme by which the Home Office is coordinating the implementation of the various measures for witnesses recommended in Speaking Up For Justice.

Children: innocent until proven guilty: a report on the overuse of remand for children in England and Wales and how it can be addressed

In the last seven years the number of children locked up on remand has increased by 41%. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child says that imprisonment should only be used as a measure of last resort. This report on the overuse of remand for children is based on information gathered from a number of sources: interviews with senior practitioners and sentencers; a literature review of research and statistics; a survey of bail and remand officers; a national seminar. It discusses why the problem has arisen and presents a series of twelve policy and practice solutions.

Interviewing child witnesses under the Memorandum of Good Practice: a research review

The ‘Memorandum of Good Practice on Video Recorded Interviews with Child Witnesses for Criminal Proceedings’ was published in 1992 to provide guidance to police officers and social workers responsible for undertaking video-recorded interviews with child victims or witnesses. The document outlined core principles to be followed when conducting interviews; the video could then be played in court to spare the child the necessity of giving live examination-in-chief.

Intensive help for vulnerable people: applying case management models in the justice system

Research has suggested that people with multiple legal and social problems would benefit from 'case management', a structured process aimed at co-ordinating services and support on behalf of an individual. There is a lack of evidence of effectiveness of case management models in justice settings however case management has been used in other settings and lessons can be learned.