Update
| Published date | 01 June 1989 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455058903600201 |
| Date | 01 June 1989 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
50
UPDATE
Race
and
Justice
Following
the
publication
of
Black
Peo-
ple
and
the
Craminal
Justice
System
in
1986,
maling
extensive
proposals
to
promote
racial
justice
in
the
criminal
and
penal
process,
NACRO’s
Race
Issues
Advisory
Committee
has
spent
two
years
publicising
and
promoting
their
recommendations.
A
follow-up
Report
Race
and
Criminal
Justice:
A
Way
Forward
(February
1989,
£3)
details
the
response
so
far,
including:
.
a
survey
by
the
Lord
Chancellor’s
Department
of
the
ethnic
composition
of
the
Magistracy
(1.9%
of
JPs
are
black,
black
women
being
particularly
under-represented);
.
the
Bar
and
the
Law
Society
have
adopted
codes
of
practice
to
eliminate
discrimination
and
the
Law
Society
has
surveyed
the
ethnic
origins
of
solicitors
(1.6%
zoom
ethnic
minority
groups);
.
the
Home
Office
has
issued
an
equal
opportunities
policy
statement
for
use
by
area
probation
committees;
.
the
Prison
Department
has
issued
a
policy
statement
on
race
relations
and
a
detailed
checklist
to
assist
implementa-
tion ;
?
several
police
forces
have
issued
guidelines
and
provided
training
on
dealing
with
racial
attacks;
.
the
CPS
has
a
standing
committee
ao
consider
their
responsibility
towards
ethnic
minority
issues.
Though
acknowledging
progress,
the
Committee
indicates
that
this
has
been
merely
a
start,
and
they
highlight
the
lack
of
progress
in
recruitment,
training,
ethnic
monitoring,
and
the
funding
of
black
organisations.
Only
0.6%
of
prison
staff
responding
to
a
recent
monitoring
exercise
were
black,
and
there
is
only
one
black
circuit
judge.
Only
127
out
of
6,651
probation
officers
of
all
grades
were
recorded
in
1987
as
black:
65
being
of
Afro-
Caribbean
origin,
25
of
Asian
origin
and
37
of
’other
black’
origin.
Only
three
were
SPOs.
3.8%
of
hostel
staff
and
3.1%
of
other
staff
were
recorded
as
coming
from
ethnic
minorities.
Fourteen
Areas
recorded
no
ethnic
minority
staff.
Sound
information
on
the
fairness
of
criminal
justice
is
still
lacking
in
many
areas,
notably
on
court
sentenc-
ing.
At
the
centre
of
concern
is
the
high
and
rising
black
prison
population.
In
June
1985,
12.5%
of
the
prison
pop-
ulation
was
black.
In
1986
the
figure
had
risen
to
13.8%
and
in
1987
to
14%.
Nearly
one
in
every
20
young
men
is
likely
to
be
sentenced
to
custody
at
some
time
before
reaching
21,
with
the
implication
that
in
the
black
communi-
ty
nearly
one
in
10
young
men
will
have
been
locked
up
by
21st
birthday.
The
report
concludes
with
suggest-
ed
Codes
of
Guidance
on
Race
Issues
for
Court
Personnel
and
for
Magis-
trates’
Courts.
Prison
Regimes
A
clutch
of
recent
reports
indicates
modest
gains
and
major
shortcomings
in
the
Prison
System,
starting
with
news
that
in
the
Eurovision
Custody
Contest,
the
United
Kingdom
has
final-
ly
overtaken
Turkey
in
having
a
higher
prison
population
in
absolute
numbers
than
any
other
West
European
country
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