By Alexandra Cox

There are stark racial and ethnic disparities which exist at all levels of the English and Welsh criminal justice systems (Lammy, 2017, Sveinsson, 2012, Chada, 2020). These disparities exist at the front end of the system in terms of the racially and ethnically disproportionate impact of stop and search; the racialised placement of individuals on police databases such as the Metropolitan Police’s Gangs Matrix; decision-making by magistrates and judges; and the barriers that people of colour face in accessing the legal profession, and, in particular, the judiciary (Williams and Clarke, 2016, Fatsis, 2019, Densley and Pyrooz, 2019, Centre for Justice Innovation, 2017, Gibbs and Kirby, 2014, The Law Society, 2020b).1 Defence practitioners can offer vital insights about criminal justice system practices as they are court ‘insiders’, with unprecedented access to legal procedures, negotiations, and practices, as well as access to legal cultures and cultural codes which are inherently racialised. They also have valuable knowledge about their clients’ lives and experiences in the system. However, this knowledge is rarely harnessed, despite the ways that it can be brought to bear in support of better outcomes for clients. Frontline legal practitioners also offer perspectives on the legitimacy of the justice system, both as individuals who have their own experiences of injustice, but also through an understanding of their clients’ experiences. There has been very little research on defence practitioners’ perceptions of the fairness of the criminal justice system landscape in England and Wales. Much of the research on defence practitioners has focused on the relationships that are established between practitioners and their clients and the role of trust in those relationships, and has been almost exclusively conducted in the United States (Flemming, 1986, Boccaccini et al., 2004, Sandys and Pruss, 2017, Campbell et al., 2015, Clair, 2020). There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that the experiences of lawyers of colour in the justice system in England and Wales are shaped by the dynamics of race, class and gender (Wilson, 2020, Johnson, 2020), and that their perspectives provide valuable insights into the working practices of the courts, but there is very little research evidence about these perspectives.

London: Howard League for Penal Reform, 2023. 11p.

By National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

The history of the U.S. criminal justice system is marked by racial inequality and sustained by present day policy. Large racial and ethnic disparities exist across the several stages of criminal legal processing, including in arrests, pre-trial detention, and sentencing and incarceration, among others, with Black, Latino, and Native Americans experiencing worse outcomes. The historical legacy of racial exclusion and structural inequalities form the social context for racial inequalities in crime and criminal justice. Racial inequality can drive disparities in crime, victimization, and system involvement. Reducing Racial Inequality in Crime and Justice: Science, Practice, and Policy synthesizes the evidence on community-based solutions, noncriminal policy interventions, and criminal justice reforms, charting a path toward the reduction of racial inequalities by minimizing harm in ways that also improve community safety. Reversing the effects of structural racism and severing the close connections between racial inequality, criminal harms such as violence, and criminal justice involvement will involve fostering local innovation and evaluation, and coordinating local initiatives with state and federal leadership. This report also highlights the challenge of creating an accurate, national picture of racial inequality in crime and justice: there is a lack of consistent, reliable data, as well as data transparency and accountability. While the available data points toward trends that Black, Latino, and Native American individuals are overrepresented in the criminal justice system and given more severe punishments

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  compared to White individuals, opportunities for improving research should be explored to better inform decision-making.

Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2022. 343p.

Edited by Trudie Knijn and Dorota Lepianka

Justice and Vulnerability in Europe contributes to the understanding of justice in Europe from both a theoretical and empirical perspective. It shows that Europe is falling short of its ideals and justice-related ambitions by repeatedly failing its most vulnerable populations.

Cheltenham, UK; Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2020. 288p.

Edited by Michael J. Lynch and E. Britt Patterson.

"Nothing has changed" is the conclusion to be drawn from reading the collection of original articles that describe and analyze the countless ways in which racial prejudice affects the processing and outcomes of minority offenders in the American criminal justice system. Written in the 1990s, most of the observations still apply. CONTENTS: 1. Thinking About Race and Criminal Justice: Racism, Stereotypes, Politics, Academia, and the Need for Context; 2. Moral Panic as Ideology: Drugs, Violence, Race and Punishment in America; 3. "The Tangle of Pathology" and the Lower Class African American Family: Historical and Social Science Perspectives; 4. The Image of Black Women in Criminology: Historical Stereotypes as Theoretical Foundation; 5. Race, Popular Culture, And The News; 6. Vice and Social Control: Predispositional Detention and the Juvenile Drug Offender; 7. Race, Contextual Factors, and the Waiver Decision Within Juvenile Court Proceedings: Preliminary Findings From a Test of The Symbolic Threat Thesis; 8. Race and Criminal Justice: Employment of Minorities in the Criminal Justice System; 9. Race And Social Class in the Examination of Punishment; References; Notes.

Harrow and Heston Publishers. 1992. 246p.

By N.E. Haas.

Why can vigilantes count on public support? Why do citizens in certain cases oppose the formal prosecution and punishment of vigilantes? Are such reactions an indication of lacking confidence in the criminal justice system? Or do situational aspects perhaps also play a role? The goal of this dissertation is to explain public support for vigilantism. In two studies, respondents were presented with a fictional case about vigilantism and answered related questions. The findings of both studies show that support for vigilantism cannot be interpreted automatically as a sign that confidence in the criminal justice system is lacking: situational characteristics have an independent influence on support. The results also reveal that support for vigilantism is a complex concept. People are not simply for or against vigilantism; responses to vigilantism are more nuanced. People can for instance feel little empathy for the victim of vigilantism, but at the same time express a desire for punishment of the vigilante. Additionally, a higher level of confidence in the courts and criminal justice system led to less support for vigilantism, while confidence in police did not play a role. Lastly, general support for vigilantism was an important predictor of support for a specific case.

Leiden: Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR), 2010. 197p.

By Sylvester Sammie.

Linking High-level Accused to Sexual and Gender-Based Crimes in International Criminal Law focuses on the theoretical and practical perspectives taken by the ICTY, ICTR, and ICC. It seeks to answer the question of how high-level officials can and should be investigated and prosecuted for their role in the commission of sexual and gender-based crimes. The author examines the forms, types, and amount of evidence used to prove the role of these high-level accused in the commission of crimes by rank-and-file soldiers. As the accused are usually not present on the crime scene, the international criminal courts and tribunals must rely on individual criminal liability theories enshrined in Article 7 ICTY Statute, Article 6 ICTR Statute, and Articles 25 & 28 Rome Statute to connect them to the atrocities committed on the ground. 100 individual cases from the ICTY, ICTR, and ICC are examined and reveal that in most cases there was sufficient evidence to prove that sexual and gender-based crimes were committed. It was however much more difficult for the prosecutor to prove the role and responsibility of the high-ranked accused and the modes of liability charged. The author gives concrete recommendations on how to gather linkage evidence effectively, and to use the modes of liability accurately to prove the connection between the committed crimes, the broader context and the accused’s role.

Groningen: University of Groningen. 2021. 415p.