New Government Reports - Jan 20th

The following recently published Government reports may be of interest:

• Rules of engagement: changing the heart of youth justice
  Centre for Social Justice
  This report on the youth justice system in England and Wales calls for a drastic cut in the 5,000 children aged 10-17 given custodial sentences every year and recommends reforms in which child welfare services rather than youth justice teams and courts take the lead in preventing juvenile crime. It also advises that it is time to break the “taboo” surrounding raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) from ten to twelve. The report identifies four key shortcomings, which must be addressed if outcomes are to be improved: The youth justice system continues to function as a backstop: sweeping up the problem cases that other services have failed, or been unable, to address; The system is often operating in a way which promotes rather than reduces offending; There continues to be too much focus on functional process at the expense of lifechanging outcomes; and The importance of relationships to preventing offending and facilitating rehabilitation, emphasised consistently to the CSJ in its evidence hearings, continues to be overlooked.
  Published 16 January 2012
  http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/client/downloads/CSJ_Youth_Justice_Full_Report_WEB%20%282%29.pdf [PDF 2.6MB]
• Cutting them free: how is the UK progressing in protecting its children from sexual exploitation
  Barnardo's
  A report released to mark the first anniversary of the charity's campaign to stop child sexual exploitation, reveals that little is happening to protect victims of child sexual exploitation in many communities around the country and in some areas budget cuts are leading to the issue being downgraded.
  Published 17 January 2012
  http://www.barnardos.org.uk/cuttingthemfree.pdf [PDF 318KB]
• Landing in Dover: the immigration process undergone by unaccompanied children arriving in Kent
  Adrian Matthews for the Office of the Children's Commissioner
  This report focuses on immigration procedures to which unaccompanied children arriving in Kent are subject between their first encounter with the authorities and the time they are placed in the care of Kent County Council children's social care services. An investigation found that vulnerable unaccompanied children who arrived illegally at Dover docks or through the Channel tunnel were being sent straight back to France under a secret "gentleman's agreement". The practice has now been stopped by the UK Border Agency.
  Published 17 January 2012
  http://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/content/publications/content_556
• Joint enterprise Commons Justice Committee. Eleventh Report of Session 2010-12. Volume I: Report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence. Volume II: Additional written evidence.
  The Committee warns that efforts to tackle gang-related violence are being hampered because the law on joint enterprise is confusing for juries and courts alike. Over-zealous application of the principle, particularly with gang fights, can discourage witnesses from volunteering vital information that would solve killings for fear they end up on trial for murder. The report notes “The Prison Reform Trust is concerned that joint enterprise may be used disproportionately in cases involving children and young adults, and can act as a dragnet, bringing individuals and groups into the criminal justice system who do not necessarily need to be there”. The report advises that legislation is needed to ensure justice for both victims and defendants and end the high number of cases reaching the Court of Appeal.
  Published 17 January 2011
  Volume I:
  http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmjust/1597/1597.pdf [PDF 472KB]
  Volume II:
  http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmjust/1597/1597vw.pdf [PDF 400KB]