Criminal Justice

Scottish Prison Service

Official website providing general information about the organisation and operation of the Scottish Prison Service. Details are provided on the structure of the service with links to all the Scottish prisons. The site lists research material published by the Research and Development Branch of the Scottish Prison Service, including some summaries of Occasional Papers. The full-text of the SPS annual report and accounts is also available in HTML format. The site includes news, site search facility and links to other relevant resources on the internet.

International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy

The International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy is an independent non-profit institute, officially affilated with the United Nations and based at the Faculty of Law, University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. The website contains publications, occasional papers and reports which can be ordered online or downloaded in PDF. The site gives details of the following programmes conducted by the Centre: Corrections Programme; China Programme; Transnational Organised Crime; UN Congress on Crime and International Criminal Court.

National Archive of Criminal Justice Data

The National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) is a branch of the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan. NACJD acquires, archives, processes, and provides access to computer-readable criminal justice data collections for research and instruction. The NACJD website, hosted and developed by the University of Michigan, provides downloadable access to over 550 criminal justice data collections free of charge. The data relates to penal law and criminal justice at US Federal and State levels.

Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice

A series of research papers published by the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), aiming to be informative and topical. Papers in the series aim to provide quality information so as to inform government decisions that will assist in the promotion of justice and prevention of crime. Subjects covered by the papers focus on Australian legal matters relating to a wide range of criminology and criminal justice issues such as policing, sentencing, fraud, and drug-related crime. Papers are published monthly and are made freely available to download from the AIC website in full-text PDF.

Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, The

The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice is published by Wiley (formerly by Blackwells) and is concerned with "all major aspects of the criminal justice process, penal policy and crime prevention". It is an interdisciplinary journal "combining articles with comments and reviews, providing a thorough coverage of both the theory and practice of criminal justice and the study of crime and criminals. Each issue includes a Penal Policy File summarising the latest developments in criminal justice policy."

Magistrates' Association

Website of the Magistrates' Association, the organisation representing volunteer magistrates in the United Kingdom. The site gives details about the organisation, aims and activities of the Association which include training, liaising with other criminal justice agencies and producing publications such as the Magistrate magazine and the Magistrates' Court Sentencing Guidelines. Detailed information is given about becoming a magistrate and what the work involves. There is information about the Magistrates in the Community project and a section of the site is aimed at young people.

Criminal Justice System

Section of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) website covering the criminal justice system in England and Wales. Intended for the general public, the pages describe the stages of a criminal case from the reporting of a crime to the court verdict, explain how the CPS decides whether or not to prosecute, and give an overview of other official bodies and organisations working in the field of criminal justice.

Independent Office for Police Conduct

Website of the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which handles complaints from the public about the British police force. This site provides information on the purpose of the body, its current activities, guidance on making a complaint and recent investigation reports. Statistics and research reports are also provided. Areas covered include police discipline, police brutality, police corruption, racism and police officers, use of equipment such as batons and CS Gas and statistics on deaths in police custody.

Criminal Cases Review Commission

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) is the government body which investigates suspected miscarriages of justice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Its website provides information on the purpose and organisation of the body as well as its ongoing work. The site includes case studies concerning successful CCRC investigations, statistics about case reviews, academic research papers, details of current research projects and  information about how to apply for a case review.

Wrongful conviction and innocence resources on the internet

Online guide to key websites and resources dealing with wrongful conviction in the United States written by Ken Strutin who is Director of Legal Information Services at the New York State Defenders Association. The guide gives details of current awareness sites which collect news stories relating to people who have been released from prison following the discovery of new evidence, a list of innocence projects and pro bono attorneys. There is a list of links to commissions set up to investigate miscarriages of justice and websites featuring collections of case profiles.

Subscribe to Criminal Justice