INTRO TO CJS

• CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN CRISIS?

  • The Independent Saturday 15 June 2019  President of the Law Society Christine Blacklaws: “The criminal justice system is in tatters – and it will lead to the collapse of the rule of law unless something is done. Cuts to legal aid are pricing the poor out of justice…..The crisis must be addressed”.
  • Is our justice system broken?
• IS CRIMINAL JUSTICE REALLY A SYSTEM?

  • Conflict Model of Criminal Justice: CJ is a non system: components conflict, don't share information, favour adversarial processes, have different goals, represent different interests (victims versus offenders).
  • Cavadino and Dignan "In any event, we do have penal and criminal justice ‘systems’ in the sense that they are composed of different agencies which are interdependent: their activities intimately affect each other and they need to be studied within this context of interdependency”. (2007:8)
• THE POLITICISATION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE

  • Johnson/ May/ Truss/ Sunak. Government 2019 - present
  • Rise of populism in UK, US, Europe; UK leaves EU Jan 2020; BLM protests across towns and cities; Coronavirus lockdown March 2020; June 2020 denationalisation of probation service; rape convictions fall to record Low; policing scandals: Sarah Everard murder; the Casey Report; concerns about domestic violence in lockdown; concerns that economic hardship, homelessness & trauma will spark increase in youth crime.
• CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN CRISIS

  As we approach the next General Election all the major parties competing to be seen as toughest on crime.

  But what are the facts and what works to reduce crime?