Justice Reform in the United Kingdom

For the past two decades, we have worked to advance justice reform in the United Kingdom. This has taken many forms, including aiding with the launch of pilot projects, advising on strategy, and hosting visitors to our operating programs here in New York City. By bringing together justice reformers on both sides of the Atlantic, we have attempted to spark new thinking both in the UK and in the US. While there are significant differences between the two countries, there is also much we can learn from each other.

Given the ongoing British interest in our ideas and our approach to change, we established the Centre for Justice Innovation in 2011. Based in London, the Centre is an independent sister agency that provides hands-on assistance to practitioners who work in the justice system across the UK. Over the years, the Centre has helped to create a number of court-based reform initiatives, such as offering court users access to services at the Highbury Magistrates Court and a women’s problem-solving court in Scotland. The Centre has also worked to advance the use of community sentences as an alternative to short prison sentences.  

The Centre’s current priorities include:

• Mapping innovative justice projects across the UK, with an eye toward encouraging locally-driven reform.
• Supporting the spread of family drug and alcohol courts nationally to improve court outcomes for children in care proceedings.
• Advancing pre-court diversion for both young people and adults as a proportionate response to low-level offending. 

To sign up for updates from the Centre for Justice Innovation, click here.

 

News & Updates

• The director of Neighbors in Action discusses our anti-gun violence work on WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show
• Our director of technology writes about the challenges of electronic monitoring
• A new report explores the history and impact of our work with the Mayor's Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety in New York City