UK Justice Research Articles

Challenging racist stereotypes in the UK justice system

Challenging racist stereotypes in the UK justice system

The UK Justice and Security Bill 2012–2013: Using secrecy to legitimize the securitization of the law

The Justice and Security Act of 2013 provides for closed hearings in civil cases involving security sensitive information. The author argues that the UK Government successfully created and reinforced the authority of secretive sources to ensure the Bill was passed. Such authoritative sources promoted imaginaries of a future attack but also the need to respect legal principles that protected members of ‘our’ community. The dynamics between these imaginaries and principles led to the passing of the Bill in its final form – approving closed procedures in court, but removing inquests and issues of the ‘public interest’ from the Bill. Moreover, deliberation of the Bill was represented as negotiated and rational, thereby providing the final Act with legitimacy in elite fields. This research outlines how secrecy may not only be an end-goal of securitization moves, but reference to secret intelligence can also be integral to the justification of these moves.

UK Justice Policy Review: a new resource about criminal justice in the UK

Last month the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies published the first volume in a new annual series about criminal justice. The UK Justice Policy Review series – as the title suggests – explores key developments in criminal justice policy in the UK. The series begins with the formation of the coalition government in May 2010. Hence this first volume's focus is on setting out the agenda for criminal justice that took shape in the first year of the coalition. By the end of this first year the following emerged as major areas of proposed criminal justice reform: • Reconfiguring police governance and accountability • Reforming the courts system and legal aid provision • Establishing new financial and delivery arrangements for interventions with convicted lawbreakers

Report by the competence assurance project

learning in order to create a world-class skills base. A recent report from the Department for Innovation, Universities, and Skills focused on raising the skills and capacity of those already in the workforce. Employer engagement and workforce development is therefore seen as a priority, providing an opportunity for universities to become part of the cycle of knowledge creation, transfer, and application. The paper presents the case for why a university should become involved in knowledge exchange between the employer and theworkforcewhen it could be argued that the employer is quite capable of running their own in-house training. The challenges of delivering work-based learning will be explored along with the need to consider critical success factors in knowledge transfer from thosewhodesign the curriculumto thosewhodeliver it. A keychallenge in lifelong learning is to meet both employer and university requirements while at the same time providing a memorable and enjoyable experience for the student. The collaborative partnerships underwayat theUniversity of Teessidewill be discussed as a case study. Approved foundation degrees are already offered in fingerprint identification and further awards are being developedwithin the investigative process. Supporting evidence for thebenefits of thepartnershipswill cover thepractical aspectsofdesigning the curriculum, developing modules, setting learning outcomes, and ultimately accrediting the awards. The desired outcome of these partnerships should be improved quality standards in the workforce in terms of knowledge, skills, and competency to provide greater assurance and public confidence in the UK justice system.

At the Heart of Justice: the Library at the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom

AbstractThe new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, which heard its first case in October 2009, sits at the apex of the UK's justice systems. Located in the painstakingly restored Grade II Listed Middlesex Guildhall in Parliament Square, it will be the highest appeal court in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and for civil cases in Scotland. Jenny Rowe, Chief Executive of the Court, reveals how the new Justices' Library is at the heart of this landmark building.

The Jamaican Creole speaker in the UK justice system

This article explores intelligibility between the Jamaican vernacular, an English-based lexicon Creole language, and English. It examines discourse in pre-trial interviews conducted by functionaries in the UK criminal justice system, usually police and customs officers and lawyers, with Jamaican Creole (JC)-dominant or monolingual speakers who are typically persons suspected or accused of offences or potential witnesses of offences. Using discourse analysis techniques, it highlights instances of miscommunication and lack of comprehension not only between the parties to the interview, but also on the part of the transcribers. The analysis attempts to trace the miscommunication and lack of understanding to linguistic distinctions between the two language varieties. The paper also explores the possible legal consequences of these language-related miscommunications or lack of communication. The analysis underscores the need for continuous interpretation during pre-trial interviews and for interpretation/translation services at the transcription stage despite some similarity between the two languages.

The Jamaican Creole speaker in the UK justice system

The Jamaican Creole speaker in the UK justice system