Summary
This is a sweeping piece of legislation (and a very political one at that), that covers a significant swathe of the criminal justice system. It is based upon the current Government’s 2019 manifesto commitments to “make the country safer by empowering the police and courts to take more effective action against crime and lead to a fairer justice system”. The purpose of the Bill is to:
- Protect the police and other emergency workers and enhance the wellbeing of police officers and staff
- Protect the public by giving the police the tools needed to tackle crime and disorder, and by addressing the root causes of serious violent crime using multi-agency approaches to prevention
- Ensure that the most serious violent and sexual offenders spend time in prison that matches the severity of their crimes, protects victims and gives the public confidence
- Tackle repeat and prolific offenders through robust community sentences which punish and also address offenders’ needs
- Modernise the delivery of criminal justice by overhauling existing court processes to provide better services for all court users
In this briefing, Nacro breaks down the key points of the bill and amendments, looking at how these changes will affect the justice system.