A long and hard look at criminal justice across the UK
Criminal justice systems appear to be set in stone because their categories and operations have a permanent stamp of authority.
But they also possess structures of governance, oversight and accountability which create a machinery of power - and a potential force for change.
They also have histories: both their pasts and presents are entwined with particular national contexts and developments. It is impossible to understand or assess criminal justice in Northern Ireland without considering the impact of the Troubles, while Scotland’s system bears the imprints of a long distinctive history as well as a more recent nationalist turn.
All this means that there is a political context to criminal justice which surfaces at times of controversy and reform but then fades slowly into the background.
History provides clues to patterns of innovation and continuity. The founding of the Metropolitan Police in 1829, with local commissioners under the Home Secretary’s oversight, was a classic example of a political intervention in response to the acute turbulence following the Napoleonic war, setting the scene for developments in local government in the Victorian era.
Would so many police forces have survived into the 21st century without this long inheritance of localised models? But are they fit to meet the challenges of a far more connected new world? These are some of the reflective questions which emerge from our new report on developments in governance: Criminal justice systems in the UK.
Looking at cases and campaigns
It is never sufficient to recite the promises of a system, as if criminal justice was self-correcting and closed to itself. When, for example, complaints fail and inspections do not deliver change, it falls to civil society to seek redress for injustice. Our case studies have ranged over the campaigns of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, and the family of the murdered Stephen Lawrence, as well as highlighting the injustices of Post Office prosecutions, now the subject of a public inquiry.
It seems as if the perseverance and ingenuity of civil society campaigners can make a difference to outcomes. Challenging criminal justice agencies, as well as bringing evidence to light, creates platforms for influence which, given time, can progress their cause, with broader implications for reform more generally.
However, our report explores how social inequalities, in particular, of race and sex, continue to haunt criminal justice institutions, undermining their claims to give equal treatment under law.
Looking far and wide
The report was constructed by Richard Garside and myself as a result of long and painstaking dialogue with officials at the Department for International Development, now incorporated in the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
The perspective of FCDO was consequential in directing our attention to concrete and legally-defined lines of responsibility for particular functions, rather than general theories or interpretations. We also were encouraged to give meticulous attention to the case studies which illustrate how institutions are tested by a range of pressures.
It was important to avoid being selective or giving undue emphasis to certain aspects, with the risk of misrepresentation or colluding with myths. Indeed, we understood that the report would be used to give credible information to international audiences looking to compare and review their own systems; in this sense, it is a tool for a wider assessment of how criminal justice systems can be held accountable, not just nationally but in terms of international standards and benchmarks.
A case in point is the international treaty arrangements which have led to the UK’s distinctive National Preventive Mechanism, a congregation of agencies with powers to visit and report on places of detention.
Writing the report became for us an unusual but rewarding experience, requiring awareness of how facts and principles familiar in the UK might appear to an international reader seeking to explore a world outside their own particular sphere. It is an illuminating experience we would like to repeat.
Looking ahead
Criminal justice appears as a realm of order and predictability yet it is maintained only with vigilant oversight and effective management. It is exposed to numerous pressures which from time to time manifest themselves in crises, some evident and others breeding under the surface. Problems it fails to address adequately can erupt in discussion, debate and protest across civil society.
Our report presents a description of how such themes have been unfolding in the UK’s diverse and mutable systems. We can be certain that crucial choices about their future shape will persist.