29 November 2024
Prisons are in crisis, so what’s the plan to fix them? In this week’s NLJ, Helen Scambler, associate at Mishcon de Reya, comments on the government’s actions to date to repair the issue, and makes some suggestions on what they could do next.
Scambler suggests a broader role for deferred sentences and deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs). While the latter are used only for organisations, the author considers the potential benefits of applying them to individuals. She writes: ‘By widening the scope of DPAs to include offences committed by individuals, particularly in non-violent cases such as fraud or financial crimes, the justice system could divert cases away from prison while still holding individuals accountable for their actions.’
The article also covers sentencing inflation, short sentences and imprisonment for public protection (IPP) prisoners.RELATED ARTICLES
