Strasbourg has ruled indeterminate sentences unlawful. Thousands of prisoners, having served their tariff, remain stuck in prison with no prospect of release, not for what they have done but for what they might do in the future.
Sexually exploited girls may commit crime to try and escape the men who exploit them. Our courts confuse their welfare needs with criminality and lock them up for longer.
Where do we stand when migrant children and young people in Britain cannot even secure basic access to justice?
This year’s undergraduate winner of the John Howard Essay Prize 2012 challenges some often unquestioned assumptions that are driving the for-profit takeover of our child prisons.
West Midlands against Policing for Profit is a group aiming to prevent the privatisation of the West Midlands and Surrey Police Forces by corporations with dubious human rights records. Activist Jo Jones writes on the latest news regarding these takeovers in the wake of the G4S failure to provide
As G4S and Serco, both accused of human rights abuses, bid for a contract tendered by two English police authorities, protestors rally to pressure the West Midlands Police Authority to reject the bids on grounds of 'grave misconduct'.
The punitive language of retribution ignores common sense, justice and compelling evidence of what works, and the new language of the market degrades our penal system, demeaning the tens of thousands of people within its walls.
The job seeker who set fire to himself in Birmingham appears to have been driven to this horrific act by an all-too-common glitch in the welfare system. A Citizens Advice Bureau worker explains how such desperation is only steps away for many seeking support from the British state.
The UK's coalition government has six months to overturn the ban on prisoners voting.
UK penal reform charity the Howard League claims newly opened Oakwood Prison, run by G4S, is turning away difficult prisoners and losing staff
The punitive judicial response to the riots has left a lasting legacy of damage and stigma
Child prisons don’t work. Secure children’s homes do. Guess which ones the government is cutting?
