England: Legitimacy of criminal courts brought into question by ethnic minority distrust

The Centre for Justice Innovation’s report, Building Trust: How our courts can improve the criminal court experience for Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic defendants, looks at the origins of the lack of trust in the system, why perceptions of fairness and trust in the justice system matter and what can be done to improve the experience of court for BAME defendants.

A majority (51 per cent) of British-born BAME people believe that the criminal justice system discriminates against particular groups and individuals, compared to only 35 per cent of the British-born white population.

This lack of trust has two specific negative consequences. First, it may be leading to BAME defendants receiving more severe sentences by making them less likely to plead guilty. Defendants who plead guilty at the first opportunity receive a one-third reduction in their sentence. But male BAME defendants are 52 per cent more likely to plead not guilty in Crown courts than similar white defendants.

Secondly, perceptions of unfair treatment within the court process and lower levels of trust in the courts are likely to increase the chances that BAME offenders will go on to offend again.

The centre reviewed approaches to building trust and tackling racial disparity in four similar countries: Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA. Having analysed the way other countries address this issue, the report recommends that the courts can improve the service they provide in the following ways: