Page 100 - JUSTICE Tackling Racial Injustice - Children and the Youth Justice System

inappropriate, and exacerbates BAME individuals’ frequent experiences of
bias.

4.55 In 2019, the average sentence length for a BAME individual was 27.1 months,
compared to 19.5 for their White counterpart. While the reasons for this
disparity are complex, 274 it indicates that greater scrutiny must be afforded to
how sentences are determined. Indeed, the Lammy Review found that juries,
by contrast, “deliver equitable results, regardless of the ethnic make-up of the
jury, or of the defendant in question”, pursuant to “successive studies”. 275
While we welcome initiatives such as the Equal Treatment Bench Book, 276 we
remain concerned that such bias may continue to affect decision-making when
it comes to BAME children.

4.56 Unfortunately, we lack the data to understand biased decision-making in
greater depth. With better data, we would be able to understand whether, and
how, bias permeates decisions in all court centres, or whether it is located in
specific court centres, or even with specific judges or magistrates. This
knowledge is vital in order to understand and develop ways to ensure judicial
decisions are not biased. We understand that the data which academics require
to better understand bias in decision-making does exist but the MoJ is reluctant
to share it either publicly or with researchers, citing concerns about being able
to track data to specific sentencers. This reasoning is maintained, even where
researchers undertake to keep confidential and anonymised the data. This is
disappointing. While the independence of the judiciary is critical, it should not
inhibit scrutiny of potential bias in decision making. It is baffling that the MoJ
does not itself want to understand this data. We therefore recommend that

274 “The higher conviction ratio might be partly explained by the higher rate of ‘guilty’ pleading among
White defendants. If we look at defendants in Crown Court trials in 2019, 37% of defendants from
BAME groups pleaded ‘not guilty’ compared with 27% of White defendants. The Lammy Review
explained that willingness to plead guilty is linked to trust in the fairness of the legal system.” – See also
B. Yasin and G. Sturge, Ethnicity and the criminal justice system: What does recent data say on over-
representation?, House of Commons Library, (October 2020).
275 See the Lammy Review, page 6, and Thomas, C. Ministry of Justice Research Series. Are Juries
Fair? (2010), and Thomas, C. Criminal Law Review, number 9. ‘Ethnicity and the Fairness of Jury
Trials in England and Wales 2006-2014’, (2017).
276 “The Equal Treatment Bench Book aims to increase awareness and understanding of the different
circumstances of people appearing in courts and tribunals. It helps enable effective communication and
suggests steps which should increase participation by all parties.” – see Equal Treatment Bench Book,
March 2020.

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