Research

Improving Women’s Justice

Working to change the structural discriminations faced by women in the criminal justice system.

We are working with our partners the Centre for Women’s Justice to reform the defences for women accused of offending, who were coerced into crime as a result of domestic abuse.

In the past 18 months we have drafted new strategy documents for the police in England and Wales (mandatory for all officers from September 2023) on the investigation of domestic rape. We are currently drawing up guidelines for the CPS. Longer term we are working on plans to reform the Sexual Offences Act 2003 to better accommodate survivors of domestic abuse.

Reforming Carceral Injustice

Reforming remand and introducing deferred sentencing in England and Wales, together with moving to a problem solving rather than a solely punitive paradigm.

Our work in this sphere focuses on three main areas. We are collaborating with external partners in the fields of remand, deferred sentencing and problem-solving justice.

• The remand (unsentenced) prison population in England and Wales is substantial and ever-growing. We are working with partners to introduce policy change resulting in the ‘presumption against custodial remand for women’.
• Our work on deferred sentencing takes inspiration from the Scottish justice system. We are collaborating on an ambitious programme to produce policy guidance for magistrates in England and Wales – building on the successful model in Scotland as a way of producing ‘Second Chance Justice’ for some of England and Wales’ most disadvantaged groups.
• We are exploring how US policymakers and policy advocates are developing innovations in sentencing, political public affairs, media strategies and legal reform.

Evaluating Future Justice

Analysing political and cultural contexts shaping policy developments, including trends, technological innovations and methodological advancements in data collection.

What would a just criminal justice system look like? The criminal justice system is facing unprecedented challenges generated by escalating demands, limited public funding and crises in effectiveness and legitimacy. There is increasing recognition that the experience of  criminal justice is closely linked to social justice and citizens' trust in governmental institutions.

We are interrogating the political and socio-cultural dynamics that are shaping policy, key trends in crime and criminal justice, emergent ‘wicked issues’, rapid technological innovations and methodological innovations in data collection and usage. A core concern is championing the shifts in thinking required to strengthen the ‘justice’ in criminal justice theory, policy and practice.