A CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE
FIGURES REVEAL AN ALARMING NUMBER OF PEOPLE ARE NOT CONFIDENT THE SYSTEM IS EFFECTIVE
BARELY half of people think the criminal justice system is effective.
New analysis from the Office for National Statistics looked at public attitudes into the criminal justice system - including how we feel about the police, courts, and the Crown Prosecution service.
They revealed a shocking picture, with just 53 per cent of people aged 16 and over confident that the criminal justice system is effective.
The criminal justice system reflects the whole process of securing justice against criminals.
It includes the police, courts, the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice, the Crown Prosecution Service, as well as the prison system.
The analysis looked at responses to the Crime Survey for England and Wales 2018 - an annual survey that asks about people’s experiences of crimes.
Specific questions revealed that fewer than a quarter of people (24 per cent) felt confident the criminal justice system was effective at rehabilitating convicted offenders and under a third (31 per cent) agreed that probation service is effective at preventing criminals from reoffending. Just 36 per cent of people were confident that prisons are effective at punishing convicted offenders. The public expressed a lack of confidence in the court system, with only four in 10 agreeing they are effective at given punishments that fit the crime.
Barely half (52 per cent) were confident that courts were effective at dealing with cases promptly.
Fewer than twothirds of people (62 per cent) felt The Crown Prosecution Service was effective at prosecuting people accused of committing a crime.
The police saw the highest levels of confidence, with 69 per cent of people agreeing they were effective at catching criminals.
Despite the low rates, overall confidence in the criminal justice system is actually improving. Figures go back as far as the year ending March 2009, when just 38 per cent of people were confident in its effectiveness.
The rate has generally risen each year since.
All specific questions apart from one in the analysis saw the public’s confidence remain stable or improve from the year before.
The 24 per cent of people who expressed confidence that prisons were effective at rehabilitating convicted offenders was a slight dip from 26 per cent in the year to March 2018.