Publication

UK Justice Policy Review: Volume 7

The seventh in an annual series from the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, supported by The Hadley Trust, assessing year-on-year developments in criminal justice across the UK.
25 June 2018
Comment

Introducing UK Justice Policy Review 7

Since 2010, the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies has been assessing criminal justice developments across the UK through its UK Justice Policy Review programme.

Our latest publication...

14 June 2018
News

Knife crime a public health, not policing, problem

Knife crime should be treated as a public health challenge, not a policing problem, our Director, Richard Garside, tells The Guardian newspaper today.

There is renewed concern that knife violence is on the rise following the publication of the latest crime data showing a 22 percent increase in knife crime and an 11 percent rise in gun crime.

Richard told the Guardian that while most people would never be a victim of knife...

27 April 2018
News

Comment on the forced resignation of Nick Hardwick

Our Director, Richard Garside, spoke on last night's BBC Newsnight on the dismissal of Nick Hardwick as Chair of the Parole Board.

Richard told the programme:

It’s really important as we look forward that the independence of the Parole Board from political interference is absolutely guaranteed.

It’s really striking in his resignation letter that Nick Hardwick raises the question, effectively, of

...
29 March 2018
News

Close prisons rather than try to fix them

Our Director Richard spoke about the prisons crisis at a meeting of the Friends of Le Monde Diplomatique earlier this week.

Richard said that that 'the prisons crisis is not, fundamentally, a crisis in prisons: one that can be resolved if the right reforms, the right action, is taken. It is a crisis of prisons: of our unbending attempts to treat a complex set of social problems - violence, drug,...

8 February 2018
Speech

The prisons crisis. Alternatives to incarceration

Thank you for the invitation to speak this evening on the prison crisis. I admire the work and values of Le Monde Diplomatique. It is good to be among those committed to supporting its ongoing, and important, work.

6 February 2018
News

Our submission to prison population 2022 inquiry

Our submission to the House of Commons Justice Committee inquiry into the prison population in 2022 has been published on the Committee's website.

Submitted in partnership with the analytical services organisation, Justice Episteme, our submission offers an analysis of the historical trajectory of the custodial population in England and Wales from 2003, and a projection for the period to 2022 and beyond.

We estimate that, if there...

26 January 2018
News

New year message 2018

Reflecting on the events of 2017 and looking ahead to 2018, our Director, Richard Garside, said:

2017 has been one of the busiest years for the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies. We have published more than 20 reports, briefings and journal editions. We have held more than 20 events. We have met with ministers and government officials and our work has been cited in parliament

...
1 January 2018
News

Criminal justice in the UK: Smaller, but tougher

Criminal justice across the UK has got smaller, but tougher, over recent years, according to a new briefing from the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies.

While recorded crime, prosecutions and convictions have all fallen over the past decade, a 'justice dividend' has yet to be realised in the number of people in prison, which have continued to rise.

The briefing –...

30 December 2017
News

Comment on bail-outs for private probation companies

Our Director, Richard Garside, has commented on the National Audit Office report, Investigation into changes to Community Rehabilitation Company Contracts, which is published today.

Richard said:

The government admitted some months ago that it had bailed out the struggling private probation companies. Thanks to the National Audit Office, we now know that the bail-out was worth a third of a billion pounds. It is unlikely to be the last bail-out the

...
19 December 2017