Comment
Will MPs follow the public mood and decriminalise drugs?
The Royal Society for Public Health’s recent report, Taking a New...
Comment
Alternatives to imprisonment in Europe
Severe overcrowding and bad conditions are common features of prisons in all the eight states involved in this, the latest European Prison Observatory project: Italy, France, Greece, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Comment
Community sentences won’t solve Europe’s prison problem
Over the last two years the Centre has been part of an eight country collaboration looking at the use of community-based sentences in Europe. Aware of the relative gap in information about...
Community-based sentences across Europe
Until July 2016, the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies was the UK partner in a two year European collaboration charting the use of community sentences in Europe and their effectiveness as an alternative to custody.
The following materials, published by the collaboration, are now available.
News
Why it's time to dump our discredited drugs policy
Helen Mills, Research Associate at the Centre, writes in Scottish Herald about UK drug policy. The article was informed by the Centre's recent...
News
Better responses to drug harm
Last Monday, the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies hosted an event exploring Portugal's experience of decriminalising the possession of drugs for personal use and adopting a health-led approach to managing drug harms.
With contributions from an expert panel, including the head of...
News
Centre at forefront of calls for drugs policy reform
Our forthcoming event, 'Responding to drug harms: Can the UK learn from Portugal?', featured in an article in...
Comment
High prison numbers: Are sentencers to blame?
Since his appointment in May, several predictions have been made about the kind of Justice Secretary Michael Gove will be. Expanding the role for the private sector in delivering criminal justice...
Alternatives to custody workshop, 23 September 2015
On 23 September 2015, the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies held the second in this pair of workshops assessing developments in alternatives to custody in the UK since 2000.
These workshops aimed to explore why the UK's substantial use of alternatives to custody in recent years has had no impact in reducing prisoner numbers. We wanted to identify examples of good practice, as well as problematic areas, in the use of alternatives, as part of a wider European project aiming to reduce our reliance on prison.
News
Alternatives to custody: national workshops
These workshops, held on 10 June and 23 September, aimed to explore why the UK's substantial use of alternatives to custody in recent years has had no effect on prisoner numbers. We wanted to identify examples of good practice, as...
Alternatives to Custody workshop, 10 June 2015
On 10 June 2015, the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies held the first of two planned workshops assessing developments in alternatives to custody in the UK since 2000.
The purpose of these workshops is to explore why expansion in the use of alternatives has not resulted in any reduction in prisoner numbers. We want to identify examples of good practice, as well as problematic areas, in the use of alternatives, as part of a wider European project aiming to reduce our reliance on prison.
News
Highlights from Alternatives to Custody workshop
On 10 June 2015, the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies held the first of two planned workshops assessing developments in alternatives to custody in the UK since 2000.
The purpose of these workshops is to explore why expansion in the use of alternatives has not resulted in any reduction...