Stephen Whitehead
People in trouble – whether it’s addiction, debt or homelessness – often find that their problems lead them to court. But, all too often, courts don’t have the tools to address those underlying issues. The most vulnerable can end up trapped in a revolving door of crime and punishment at a huge cost to both their own wellbeing and that of the people around them.
However, a new breed of problem-solving courts may hold the answer. Courts like the Glasgow Drug Court combine accountability with targeted support to address offenders' underlying problems. In Glasgow offenders who are stealing to fund drug habits are diverted away from jail and towards a court-supervised programme of treatment. Specially trained sheriffs – the Scottish equivalent of English judges – regularly meet with offenders to ensure they are engaging with treatment, offering encouragement where they are doing well and warning or small doses of punishment where they are not.
Evidence from the US, where there are thousands of these Drug Treatment Courts working to keep offenders out of prison, suggests that they support recovery and reduce crime. But in the UK, such courts are in their infancy. Restrictions on budget and concerns about the legitimate role of the court have made it difficult to explore the model. And some of the projects that have been set up by backers in Westminster have found it hard to sustain funding when political support has moved on.
That’s why we are excited to announce Better Courts 2015, our national conference on court innovation. In February we will bring together 100 practitioners, experts and decision makers to start to think about how the courts in the UK system can implement innovations like these from the ground up instead of top-down.
As well as problem-solving courts we’ll be looking at ideas like procedural justice – making sure that courts build trust in the law – and how to make sure that courts work for victims and witnesses. We’re inviting everyone with an interest in a vision of courts that address social issues to join us and help make that vision a reality.
Better Courts 2015 will take place in London on 3-4 February. Tickets are free of charge – visit our events page for more information and to request an invitation.