criminal justice

Fair access to justice? Support for vulnerable defendants in the criminal courts

Briefing paper that has been prepared for criminal justice, healthcare and legal professionals and practitioners, members of the judiciary, and local government directors of adult and children’s services and lead members in England and Wales.

It will be of particular use to those working in liaison and diversion services in England and criminal justice liaison services in Wales; magistrates; defence lawyers and court staff.

The Scottish Government response to the Commission on Women Offenders

Document that sets out the Scottish Government’s response to the Commission on Women Offenders. In April 2012, the Commission on Women Offenders published its report based on a comprehensive review of the criminal justice system in Scotland.

The Commission recommended actions that will improve outcomes for women involved in that system and reduce their reoffending.

COCOA: Care for Offenders Continuity of Access

Project that describes the current status of continuity of healthcare for offenders and identifies areas of best practice; identifies some clear mechanisms for ensuring initial access and continuity of care throughout the health and criminal justice systems; and produces some conjectured hypotheses of the essential elements of effective models of healthcare service delivery for offenders.

Time for change: an evaluation of an intensive support service for young women at high risk of secure care or custody

Briefing that presents key findings of research which evaluated the Time for Change Young Women’s Project, a community-based intensive support service for young women and girls aged 14 to 17 years at high risk of being drawn into secure care and custodial detention.

Open justice: empowering victims through data and technology

Report that shows how the digital environment has the potential to make public services such as the criminal justice agencies more accountable, participatory, collaborative, accessible, responsive and efficient.

It also assesses the degree to which such technologies have so far been utilised within the criminal justice system and explores what victims think about these innovations. In doing so, it looks at surveys of victims’ attitudes towards the criminal justice system and draws on the findings of focus groups undertaken with victims of crime for the purposes of this report.

Reducing the use of imprisonment: what can we learn from Europe?

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.

Pathways from crime: ten steps to a more effective approach for young adults in the criminal justice process

The Transition to Adulthood (T2A) Alliance is a broad coalition of organisations, that evidences and promotes ‘the need for a distinct and radically different approach to young adults in the criminal justice system; an approach that is proportionate to their maturity and responsive to their specific needs. The T2A Pathway identifies ten points in the criminal justice process where a more rigorous and effective approach for young adults and young people in the transition to adulthood (16-24) can be delivered.

Making justice work for victims and witnesses: Victims and Witnesses Bill - a consultation paper

The Scottish Government’s Making Justice Work Programme represents the most significant set of reforms to courts for more than a century. A central objective of the programme is to improve the experience of victims and witnesses, and a commitment has been made to to bring forward a Victims and Witnesses Bill during this Parliament.