Laura Young

The home secretary, Priti Patel, is facing a growing revolt in parliament and the country over plans to restrict the fundamental right to protest, as controversial legislation that would increase police powers enters the House of Lords this week. More than 350 organisations, including human rights groups, charities and faith bodies, have written to Patel and […]

Police made 63,272 child arrests in England and Wales in 2020 Arrests reduced by 74 per cent since 245,763 were made in 2010 Figures show continued success of Howard League campaign Keeping children out of the criminal justice system helps prevent crime Arrests of children have been reduced by 74 per cent over the last decade, figures reveal today (Monday 23 August) in another

Average sentence lengths for violent and sexual offences in England and Wales fell steeply last year as the Covid pandemic also led to a huge slowdown in the number of people dealt with by the criminal justice system. The average custodial sentence length for violent crimes fell by 22% to 18.5 months and the figure

New government data reveals growing use of out of court measures to deal with criminal offences, prompting concerns that they are being deployed to relieve pressure on the justice system. Figures published today show that 164,000 out of court disposals were issued between March 2020 to March 2021, 9% more than the previous year. This

Coronavirus has had a ‘devastating’ impact on courts and the effect of virtual hearings is still ‘fundamentally unclear’, an influential Lords committee has found. In a comprehensive report published today, the House of Lords constitution committee said the backlog in the criminal courts has reached ‘crisis levels’ and the quality of justice is ‘increasingly at

HM Inspectorate of Prisons thematic review explores the effects of the restrictions introduced in prisons during 2020 in response to COVID-19. They interviewed men, women and children living on standard residential units who had not been able to attend work or education and had typically spent more than 22 hours a day in their cells

Labour is calling for juries to be cut from 12 members to seven, to stem the \”gravest crisis\” in the justice system since World War Two. Shadow justice secretary David Lammy said action was needed to clear the backlog of thousands of cases. He argued that smaller juries and the use of more temporary courts

Urgent action is needed to tackle an “unprecedented backlog” of court cases built up in England and Wales during the pandemic that has “severe implications” for victims, the four justice chief inspectors have warned. The plight of prisoners locked up for most of the day because of Covid-19 and disruption to services for young offenders were also highlighted in a report

he Home Office will reverse bail reforms after an overhaul intended to speed up the system instead made police investigations longer and left victims at increased risk. Theresa May put forward plans to overhaul the system five years ago when she was home secretary, She tried to reduce the amount of time spent on investigations