News

Downsize prison to tackle suicide crisis

Our Director, Richard Garside, has called on the government to develop a long-term plan to downsize prisons across England and Wales. The government should aim to at least halve the number of people locked up over the next twenty years, he said.

His call comes as...

26 January 2017
News

New Year message

Looking ahead to 2017, our Director Richard Garside said:

There is a growing consensus that criminal justice is not working.

Thousands of our fellow citizens are unnecessarily imprisoned each year, often in squalid conditions.

...
1 January 2017
News

Downsizing prison the reform challenge of this generation

The Centre's Director, Richard Garside, today said that a major prison downsizing programme was the reform challenge of this generation.

His comments came in reaction to a call by senior politicians for the prison population to be halved. The call was made by the former Deputy...

22 December 2016
News

New report on torture prevention in UK

The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies is publishing a new report today on the role of inspection in preventing torture and mistreatment in custody.

The report, Preventing Torture in Custody, examines the work of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM). Little known of outside specialist circles, the NPM works across the four UK nations and regions to...

19 December 2016
Comment

Tough talk costs lives

Michael Gove is the latest politician to accept that we lock up too many people in prison.

24 November 2016
News

Truss fires starting gun on new era of prison growth

Today's prisons White Paper marks the beginning of a new era of prison expansion and is the opposite of what is needed, according to our Director Richard Garside. Richard said:

Liz Truss is today firing the starting gun on a new era of prison growth and more punishment.

...
3 November 2016
Comment

Let them fail

In its structure, planning, delivery and financing, probation across England and Wales faces major problems.

27 October 2016
News

Too many vulnerable people being criminalised

Far too many vulnerable people are being drawn into the justice system, the Northern Ireland Justice Minister, Claire Sugden, told our conference on the UK justice systems on Wednesday.

Speaking at Criminal...

21 October 2016
News

Caution needed over problem-solving courts

Caution is needed over plans to extend the use of so-called 'problem-solving courts', if they are not to become problem-creating courts, our Director Richard Garside said today.

Richard was reacting to a call from more than 30 criminal justice professionals, in letter...

13 October 2016