Introduction: criminal justice at a crossroads? Currently, criminal justice in England and Wales feels very much as if it is at a crossroads. The impact of the ongoing COVID pandemic on criminal justice continues to be immense. In January 2021, a joint report by the chief inspectors of police, the Crown Prosecution Service, and HM Prison and Probation Service estimated a backlog of outstanding court cases of close to half a million, with many Crown Court cases already delayed to 2022 and thousands more people stranded in the limbo of remand. Elsewhere
This insightful book focuses on developments since the publication in 2007 of the Corston Report into women and criminal justice. While some of its recommendations were accepted by government, actual policy has restricted the scale and scope of change.
The challenges of working with women in the current climate of change and uncertainty are also explored, seeking to translate lessons from good practice to policy development and recommending future directions resulting from the coalition government’s Transforming Rehabilitation plans. This timely analysis engages with wide-ranging considerations for policy makers, providers and practitioners of services and interventions for women who offend, and questions whether women should be treated differently in the criminal justice system.
Austerity continues to impact the criminal justice process in England and Wales: police numbers are down, the Crown Prosecution Service is in disarray, legal aid has been reduced, courts are closing and magistrates are leaving.
Research into the criminal process usually focuses on England, however this book offers a rare insight into South Wales. Drawing on first-hand accounts of lawyers, police, suspects, and the convicted and their families, it uncovers how these affected individuals navigate the challenges caused by austerity, what has changed and what can be done to improve the system.
This book is a reliable and evocative account of the reality of criminal justice in Wales.
Introduction Criminal justice is the primary vehicle through which criminal law is enforced. Without the mechanisms and state power used by the police, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the criminal courts and criminal punishment agencies, criminal law would lose much of its authority, legitimacy and power. Yet, in enforcing criminal law, criminal justice must engage with its often-outdated discourse. This discourse includes various phrases and concepts dating back hundreds of years, the most important of which are the Latin phrases actus reus (literally
Introduction: the social construction of crime The notion of ‘crime’ and consequent criminal justice responses have fluctuated throughout history and it is only by understanding the past that the present can be understood. First, though, a discussion defining crime and the social construction of crime is necessary. On first appearance, defining crime appears to be simple, however, this is not the case as the concept of ‘crime’ is contested and contextual. This means that social, economic, political and moral contexts impact on what is and what is not defined
Successive governments have promised to reform criminal justice in England and Wales and to make it more efficient and more effective in preventing and reducing crime. And yet there is still a feeling that not enough has been achieved and more has to be done - a feeling that the English riots in August 2011 painfully revived. Where Next for Criminal Justice? offers a principled framework for the development of policy, legislation and practice, and argues with examples for an approach to criminal justice which acknowledges the limitations on what governments and reforms of criminal justice can achieve on their own, and where the focus is on promoting procedural justice and legitimacy; fostering human decency and civility; and enabling prevention, restoration and desistance from crime.
Introduction Risk assessment is a key competency for practitioners within forensic psychology and the criminal justice system ( Singh et al, 2014 ). In a survey of 2,135 risk assessment practitioners across 44 countries, Singh et al (2014) identified that participants carried out an average of 435.5 formal risk assessments across their working lifetime and a reported average of 34.5 completed risk assessments per week. Despite the prominence of risk assessment within criminal justice practitioners’ daily practice and the potential impact that the outcomes
Introduction In this chapter we draw together our findings and point towards the future for research on both criminal justice more broadly, during and after austerity, as well as, specifically, criminal justice in Wales. Thus far, we have told the story of how austerity has impacted upon individuals’ experiences of criminal justice, examining thereafter the impacts on criminal defence, particularly that which is legally aided, and on other justice institutions such as the courts, the prosecution and the police. Our focus has been on how criminal justice has
Introduction The criminal justice system (CJS) is a rather complex concept involving the application of the five main arms of the legal system with many differences across the UK. It starts with Parliament creating laws, the identification of potential offences committed in the community, police investigations of suspects, court proceedings, the imposition of custodial and non-custodial sentences, and detention in a secure environment through to review and sometimes assessment by the Parole Board and eventual release to the community following rehabilitation
