In numbers: Rise in prison violence laid bare in new figures Prison assaults have reached a post-Covid-19 pandemic high The Independent UK · Jul 25, 2024
Cut ‘unsustainable’ probation workload in England and Wales, urges watchdog Inspector says monitoring after short sentences could be stopped and youth services could take on some cases The Guardian - UK · Jul 22, 2024
Use of ‘junk science’ lie detector tests for sex offenders triples in three years Exclusive: ‘This junk science puts women and victims at risk,’ Labour MP warns The Independent UK · Jul 21, 2024
MoJ cuts maximum time high-risk offenders spend in hostel supervision Maximum hostel stays for serious offenders such as freed rapists and murderers reduced from 12 to eight weeks The Guardian - UK · Jul 18, 2024
Rishi Sunak ‘risked breaching legal responsibilities over prison crisis’ Exclusive: leaked letters said without urgent action the system in England and Wales would reach ‘critical failure’ The Guardian - UK · Jul 16, 2024
Prison rehabilitation numbers in England and Wales down 74% since 2010, MoJ data shows Almost 12,000 fewer inmates completed offender management courses than when David Cameron took office The Guardian - UK · Jul 1, 2024
Prisons in England and Wales will be at ‘breaking point’ in July, governors told Exclusive: heads of prisons say they will no longer be able to accept new inmates ‘very soon’ after 4 July election The Guardian - UK · Jun 20, 2024
Bid to cut crown court backlog no longer achievable, spending watchdog warns Cases waiting to be heard hit record levels instead of falling, with most taking nearly two years to go ahead The Independent UK · May 24, 2024
Court backlog target in England and Wales no longer achievable, says NAO Watchdog says outstanding caseload has increased from 60,000 to 67,573 since MoJ set target of 53,000 in 2021 The Guardian - UK · May 24, 2024
Bailiff evictions of renting households at six-year high, says MoJ Protesters call for rent controls as 2,682 households evicted in first quarter of 2024 in England and Wales The Guardian - UK · May 16, 2024
Court delays imposed in emergency measure due to prison places crisis Court hearings are set to be delayed and detained suspects could be set free as Operation Early Dawn triggered Evening Standard · May 15, 2024
Government triggers crisis measure to ease prison overcrowding Exclusive: Operation Safeguard confirmed by Ministry of Justice after damning report on conditions in one of UK’s biggest jails The Guardian - UK · May 9, 2024
Prisons ‘sleepwalking into crisis’ as inmates forced to share single cells Longer sentences and court backlogs push 25% of prisoners in England and Wales into shared cells, adding to drug-use and violence The Guardian - UK · May 5, 2024
Legal profession’s most powerful among members of London’s men-only Garrick Club Roll-call of gentlemen’s club, which bars women, includes judges, barristers and ministers The Guardian - UK · Mar 19, 2024
The Guardian - UK · Mar 10, 2024 ‘It’s a very unfair system’: family of man who took his own life criticise indefinite sentences Relatives of Francis Williams say threat of return to prison without committing another crime was ‘torture’ for him
Evening Standard · Feb 14, 2024 Killer pilot takes legal action against minister’s decision to block release BA captain Robert Brown beat his wife Joanna Simpson to death with a claw hammer in their family home in October 2010.
Evening Standard · Jan 31, 2024 Government 'unlawful' when it snubbed 'bare minimum' pay hike for Legal Aid solicitors, says High Court The justice system is set to 'wither beyond repair' without proper funding, solicitors warn
The Guardian - UK · Dec 27, 2023 No very young children imprisoned in England and Wales since 2010, MoJ data shows Justice system is more reluctant to criminalise 10- and 11-year-olds but government refuses to raise age of criminal responsibility
The Guardian - UK · Dec 25, 2023 Over 5,500 unpaid work orders not completed after two years in England and Wales Exclusive: Orders should be done within a year of sentence as experts blame ‘chronic understaffing’ in probation service
The Guardian - UK · Dec 20, 2023 MoJ steps in at private prison after series of suspected suicides Governor sacked and a review of conditions launched at HMP Lowdham Grange near Nottingham
The Guardian - UK · Dec 18, 2023 Ministry of Justice plan to destroy historical wills is ‘insane’, say experts Department hopes to save £4.5m a year by digitising – then binning – about 100m wills that date back 150 years
The Independent UK · Dec 14, 2023 Family of murdered toddler James Bulger ‘relieved’ killer kept behind bars James’s mother Denise Fergus said she was ‘terrified’ at the prospect of Jon Venables’s release from prison
Evening Standard · Dec 11, 2023 Criminals to plant 4,000 trees in London this winter as Government seeks to ease pressure on prisons Offenders who receive short sentences after being convicted of crimes such as drink driving and shoplifting are planting trees instead of serving time in prison
The Guardian - UK · Nov 28, 2023 Over 1,800 offenders to have indefinite jail sentences terminated, says MoJ Imprisonment for public protection sentences will now have an end date under changes in England and Wales
The Independent UK · Nov 27, 2023 Government to discuss tougher sentences for domestic and knife killers ‘For some evil people, murder is the brutal final act of a controlling and coercive relationship with their partner,’ said a government minister