Ethnicity and the criminal justice system | Martin Partington: Spotlight on the Justice System

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What happened to the Lammy Review? Tackling racial disparity in the criminal justice system

The Lammy Review on the treatment and outcomes of BAME individuals in the criminal justice system was published in autumn 2017 (noted in this blog in September 2017). At the same time, the Government had launched its Race Disparity Audit – the first results from which were also published in 2017.

A year on, in October 2018, the Ministry of Justice has published a policy paper on tackling racial disparity in the criminal justice system. It summarises both what has been done and how new developments may be taken forward.

The Press Release states, in part:

There is an undeniable over-representation of ethnic minorities within CJS which [the Government is] determined to challenge and change. For the Criminal Justice System to be viewed as effective and fair it needs the trust, confidence and engagement of citizens from all communities.

[This] update highlights progress across different parts of CJS, from the early stages of the system to court, prison and probation. It also explores cross-cutting work on areas such as data. The update sets out next steps and [the Government’s] continued commitment to progress in this area.

Much of the emphasis in the policy statement is on the need to get better data. But Lammy also recommended some procedural changes. One example is that he advocated for wider use of a ‘deferred prosecution’ model in which a person accused of committing an eligible crime is given an opportunity to complete specified conditions (for example rehabilitative activity, reparation to the victim and/or unpaid work) instead of being prosecuted. This could be done without being required to admit guilt.

Interim results from existing trials of similar approaches (Operation Turning Point in the

West Midlands, Operation Checkpoint in Durham) show promise for this approach to

reduce re-offending as well as achieving victim satisfaction and cost savings. This approach also has potential to reduce disproportionality since Lammy notes that BAME

defendants are consistently more likely to plead not guilty and so face more punitive

outcomes.

The Government states that it needs further evidence before any decision can be made to promote wider use of this model – particularly on outcomes for BAME participants and the impact of not requiring a guilt admission.

Nevertheless, the Ministry of Justice has partnered with police forces, Police and Crime Commissioners and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime in London to develop pilots of this model in 4 areas: London (North West Borough Command Unit), Surrey, Cumbria and West Yorkshire. We are working with these areas as well as national partners on the pilot design and sharing best practice around implementation and data collection. Although ethnicity is not a selection criterion for being offered a ‘deferred prosecution’, areas will monitor this with the aim of understanding any impact on disproportionality. We expect pilots to go live in police areas during 2019. All of the pilot areas propose to include youth.

This work fits in with the Government’s aims for youth of intervening early to divert individuals from the CJS and secure the best outcomes for BAME youth.

In addition, other ‘deferred prosecution’ initiatives are under consideration by police, inspired by this Lammy recommendation. This includes initiatives focused on specific cohorts of female offenders or drugs offences.

The Government will share insights and resources from its work with these areas,

and if they come to fruition the results will be of interest.

The Government has also decided to publish regular updates to the facts and figures relating to ethnicity. These are prepared by, the Ethnicity Facts and Figures service, part of a unit established in the Cabinet Office. The data relate to many aspects of life in the UK, including crime and the criminal justice system.

For the policy statement from the Ministry of Justice, see https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-racial-disparity-in-the-criminal-justice-system-2018

Data from the Ethnicity Facts and Figures Service are at https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/ from which there are links to ‘Crime Justice and the Law’.

Written by lwtmp

November 21, 2018 at 3:27 pm

Posted in Chapter 5