Criminal justice – from crisis to renewal

Our criminal justice system faces a crisis in the deeper sense

The term “crisis” is arguably one of the most overused and least understood phrases in our public commentary. We often read that various parts of our society are in crisis: our political system is in crisis; our local communities are in crisis; our environment is in crisis. While the term “crisis” usually denotes the presence of serious threats, this fails to capture the richer meaning of the phrase.

Descending from the ancient Greek word “krisis”, the fuller significance of crisis is as a time of decision, choice or turning point. While a time of crisis can often involve great challenges, it can be more understood as a time of judgement and a moment of great opportunity to part ways from the past and move in a new and better direction.

Certainly, our criminal justice system is in crisis in the common sense. Around 8.8 million crimes were estimated to have been committed in the year ending March 2024. Delays in the completion of criminal cases in the Crown Court have reached a record high, building a backlog of 67,573 cases by the end of December 2023. At the same time, England and Wales has the highest imprisonment rate in western Europe. Our prison population has grown by 93 per cent in the past 30 years, despite the lack of any clear causal connection between increased imprisonment and decreased crime rates: 33.9 per cent of adults released from prison re-offend within a year of release, while probation delivery units across England and Wales face significant problems with staffing and workload.

Yet our criminal justice system also faces a crisis in the deeper sense. As the government awaits the findings of a landmark independent sentencing review next spring, we face a fork in the road and a point of decision. Do we build more prisons? Do we invest more in community sentencing? How do we approach the sentencing of female offenders and older offenders?

In this context, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales recently released a new document on criminal justice, entitled Remember Me: A Catholic Approach to Criminal Justice. Alongside advocating the greater use of community sentences and deeper support for our probation services, Remember Me argues for the stronger role of civil society in caring for victims, rehabilitating offenders, and supporting families and the wider community fractured by crime and punishment.

Criminal justice and learning from the Good Thief

Bishops call for Royal Commission to investigate criminal justice system

Calling for the greater involvement of civil society in our criminal justice processes is rooted in the Catholic social teaching principle of subsidiarity. Subsidiarity invites all individuals and institutions in society to take responsibility for promoting the common good, with action being taken at the lowest appropriate level whenever possible. While it is the responsibility of the state to ensure law and order, it is important for families, charities and local associations to be enabled to care for victims and offenders, providing the love, support and fraternity that is characteristic of these institutions. Such support can be extremely effective in reducing offending and re-offending.

Remember Me highlights the pivotal role that faith, family and community can play in our criminal justice processes, particularly in supporting the rehabilitation of offenders. Many families, parishes and community organisations already do excellent work in this area, but this could certainly be promoted and expanded.

First, Catholic parishes can provide a place of sanctuary and restoration for ex-offenders seeking to rebuild their relationships with the community. We know from the experience of Catholic chaplaincy within prisons that the Catholic faith and its practice can allow offenders to come to a deeper understanding of the reality of their actions and the truth of their human dignity.

Prayer, formation and fellowship can deeply transform the thoughts and actions of those who have committed crimes, helping them to atone for their mistakes and believe in a better future. Indeed, deepening the relationship between prisons and Catholic parishes can be an effective vehicle for the rehabilitation and restoration of offenders as well as the healing of the wider community.

Initiatives such as the Welcome Directory, which lists faith-based communities that are equipped to welcome ex-offenders, and the Faith in Action scheme run by the Prison Advice and Care Trust (Pact) can help to inform and inspire Catholic parishes to remember and accompany those nearby who have served sentences.

Secondly, support for positive connections between prisoners and their families and loved ones can be critical in preventing re-offending and promoting rehabilitation. Ministry of Justice research has revealed that those who did not receive family visits while in prison were 39 per cent more likely to reoffend after release than those who had been visited by their families.

While there is often much focus on the importance of post-prison employment in aiding the rehabilitation of offenders, it must be recognised that many of those who commit crimes face personal and relational difficulties which can hinder these employment opportunities and undermine their return to right relationship with the community. The positive support of families and loved ones, facilitated by charities such as Pact and the Manchester-based organisation Out There, can be vital in providing that love, care and communication which enables ex-offenders to make the most of educational and employment opportunities.

Thirdly, community-based probation services can provide a physical space for the healing of personal and social relationships following the rupture of crime. These services are grounded in a sense of our shared human dignity and the unique value of local knowledge and experience of the needs of the particular people and communities affected by crime.

A notable example is the HMPPS Wales Grand Avenues pilot project in Cardiff, Wales. The project attempts a new approach in which people on probation are supervised and supported by local community hubs and charities, including the St Vincent de Paul Centre in Ely Bridge, Cardiff. It has already had early success in providing those on probation with a renewed sense of identity and community through peer mentoring, practical advice and opportunities to use their skills and talents in the service of their neighbours.

By physically locating probation services in the community, this approach recognises that the process of rehabilitation can involve significant relational challenges, which are often left unaddressed by our overstretched and often more impersonal probation services. The ultimate aim of our probation services is to facilitate the successful reintegration of ex-offenders into the wider community, and involving the wider community more directly in that process seems deeply sensible.

Our criminal justice system finds itself at a crossroads. We could choose the road that leads to harsher punishment and harder rehabilitation. Alternatively, we could choose an approach that involves lighter punishment but lower accountability.

However, there is another approach. We could create a criminal justice system that is truly restorative, both caring for victims and punishing and rehabilitating offenders. It is to be hoped that Lord Timpson, our new Minister for Prisons, will follow this route. However, it only be truly successful if families, parishes and communities, and civil society more widely, play a full and active part in supporting the renewal of our criminal justice system.

Naoise Grenham is Policy and Research Analyst at the Bishop’s Conference.