Criminal justice

Our research assesses the performance of criminal justice services and how to improve them.

Criminal justice is a key priority for any government. Our research, events and commentary analyse changes to funding and demand for criminal justice, and the impact of government policies on its performance and on the workforce that delivers it.

We assess how performance has changed over time, model the future demand facing the criminal justice sector and explain how the system operates.

28 NOV 2025 Comment

David Lammy’s proposals for judge-only trials would make England and Wales an outlier

18 NOV 2025 Comment

Abolishing police and crime commissioners now is putting the cart before the horse

28 OCT 2025 Comment

The mistaken release of Hadush Kebatu is a symptom of a failing system

Performance Tracker 2025: Criminal justice system

The government must act to avoid the justice system returning to the crisis point seen when Labour entered office, or worse.

Read our report

An aerial view of HMP Manchester, Strangeways Prison, Manchester

23 OCT 2025 Report chapter

The criminal justice system: Is there a way to fix it?

Lord Timpson OBE, Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, joined us at our public services conference to discuss the challenges in the criminal justice system.

Watch the event