This response addresses JUSTICE’s concerns with the Home Office’s draft Code of Practice issued pursuant to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, through its corresponding consultation. Section 37 of the Act allows authorised persons, chiefly police officers, to extract information stored on an electronic device if the device user has voluntarily provided it and […]
Joint Committee on Human Rights inquiry into the creation of a Human Rights Ombudsperson
June 30, 2022
JUSTICE and the Administrative Justice Council (AJC) have responded respond to the Joint Committee on Human Rights’ inquiry into whether a Human Rights Ombudsperson should be created. In May 2022, the Joint Committee on Human Rights launched an inquiry into whether a Human Rights Ombudsperson should be created, to improve how people could enforce their […]
JUSTICE responds to the Government’s legislation to repeal the Human Rights Act
June 22, 2022
The Government has today published its legislation to repeal the Human Rights Act. JUSTICE believes that this legislation will severely weaken rights protection in the United Kingdom, cause unnecessary legal uncertainty, have serious consequences for the devolved settlements and Good Friday Agreement and is inconsistent with our international obligations under the European Convention on Human […]
Review of the Vagrancy Act: consultation on effective replacement
May 13, 2022
This submission sets out JUSTICE’s response to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ Review of the Vagrancy Act: consultation on effective replacement. In responding to the consultation, we drew upon existing JUSTICE Working Party reports, including Mental Health and Fair Trial (2017), Solving Housing Disputes (2020), and Tackling Racial Injustice: Children and the […]
Justice Committee inquiry into the role of adult custodial remand in the criminal justice system
April 25, 2022
In March 2022, the House of Commons Justice Select Committee launched an inquiry into the role of adult custodial remand in the criminal justice system. The inquiry seeks to understand why the use of custodial remand has grown in recent years, the impact being placed on remand has on those in prison, and the quality […]
Covid-19 Inquiry Terms of Reference Consultation
April 12, 2022
JUSTICE has submitted our response to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry Terms of Reference Consultation. Our response highlights the need to explicitly include an examination of the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on minority communities within the terms of reference. Informed by the findings of our 2019 report When Things Go Wrong, our response also recommends […]
Consultation on Revised Behaviour in Schools Guidance and Suspension and Permanent Exclusion Guidance
March 31, 2022
JUSTICE responded to the Department for Education’s consultation on its redrafted Behaviour Guidance and Suspensions and Permanent Exclusion Guidance on 31 March 2022. Our response is informed by the JUSTICE Working Party report, Challenging School Exclusions (2019)which found serious weaknesses in the current processes for making and reviewing decisions to exclude pupils in England. We […]
Bill of Rights
March 8, 2022
JUSTICE has submitted our response to the Consultation to reform the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA). Our response highlights that the Government’s proposals to replace the HRA with a Bill of Rights will weaken rights protection in the UK by unduly restricting the content of rights and putting up additional procedural barriers to enforcement. It […]
Legal Services Board Consultation on Ongoing Competence
February 19, 2022
In February 2022, JUSTICE responded to the Legal Services Board Consultation on Ongoing Competence. In doing so, JUSTICE drew upon findings and recommendations made within its Understanding Courts report. In that report, JUSTICE explored the role that legal professionals play in ensuring that any person who comes before the court – be it as a […]
Covert Human Intelligence Sources Revised Code of Practice 2022
February 16, 2022
This response addresses JUSTICE’s concerns with the draft revised Code of Practice issued pursuant to the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Act 2021, and its corresponding consultation. The Act created a new mechanism which certain Public Bodies can use, called Criminal Conduct Authorisations. CCAs render crimes that Covert Human Intelligence Sources commit lawful for […]