Barrister who led 2014 strike in England and Wales says further industrial action looks likelyA former barrister who led the first strike at the England and Wales bar has said he “can’t see any alternative” to fresh industrial action in a dispute over …
Britains’s prisons are becoming ever more like the failed US system | Duncan Campbell
From numbers behind bars to drugs, mental health and regressive legislation, our prisons are in a shameful stateJust around the corner from where the Krays used to hold sway in east London’s Brick Lane there is an establishment called Alcotraz. Describ…
Don’t extend magistrates’ powers – there’s a better way to reform the court system | Letters
Richard Lomax and Alasdair Darroch respond to a suggestion from the Magistrates Association to clear the backlog of crown court casesBev Higgs, national chair of the Magistrates Association, is right to suggest reforms are needed to fix the criminal ju…
Short jail terms fail to prevent reoffending, says former England and Wales magistrate
Short custodial sentences handed out ‘by default’ fail to achieve objectives, says John BacheCriminals in England and Wales are being jailed for short terms that fail to prevent reoffending because of a lack of awareness and availability of community-…
Britain needs clear laws to protect LGBT+ people from ‘conversion therapies’ | Helena Kennedy
Lawyers and campaigners have drawn up a framework to take long-overdue action against these coercive practicesBaroness Helena Kennedy QC is chair of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights InstituteIn May, at the opening of parliament, the Que…
Damning report published into death of baby born to teenager in prison cell
Inquiry into how 18-year-old gave birth on her own in HMP Bronzefield in Ashford finds many failingsA catalogue of failures among prison and health professionals has been highlighted in an investigation report into the death of a teenager’s baby after …
Jailhouse rock: how history’s crimes live on in music
From Maggie May to Ronnie Kray, crooks have long inspired songs, as a new book provesIn the 1960s when Sir Stephen Sedley, the former appeal court judge, was a young barrister, he successfully defended a number of Travellers in Kent who had been charge…
Sentences for violent and sexual crimes fall sharply in England and Wales
MoJ report also shows pandemic led to huge drop in number of people dealt with by criminal justice systemAverage sentence lengths for violent and sexual offences in England and Wales fell steeply last year as the Covid pandemic also led to a huge slowd…
If we really value our freedom, repealing Covid police powers won’t be enough | Owen Jones
From voter ID rules to restrictions on protest, repressive measures are on the UK government’s post-pandemic agendaAs a bewildered country blinks in the tentative daylight of freedom, after nearly a year and a half of unprecedented restrictions, a wide…
Inescapable truths about our outdated prisons | Letters
Readers respond to an article by Frances Crook, the outgoing head of the Howard League for Penal Reform, about the need for radical change to the prison systemFrances Crook has been a voice of reason in the charity sector for 35 years (The reform of pr…