AAL Commercial Awareness: Problem Solved? US style courts in the UK

Feb 10, 2018

Written By Jack J Collins, Editor, AllAboutLaw.co.uk

It has come to light in recent weeks that British MPs have given the green light to the problem solving courts which are popular in New York. AAL examines what this means for the judicial system.

Matthew Perry at the inaugural conference regarding problem solving courts

Problem solving courts sound like they’re just designed to do the job. Aren’t all courts supposed to solve the problems in society? But these courts are specifically designed for repeat offenders.

The way in which they work is that judges continually review the progress of convicted offenders after their sentence has finished, aiming to make sure that they stay out of trouble, and perhaps more importantly, stay out of prison.

These courts often handle cases which are linked to repeat offenses – drug addiction, alcoholism, housing and abuse – and try to use non-imprisoning punishments, preferring a method in which offenders have to check in regularly to show they’re making progress.

The development of a pilot programme is already underway and is being designed carefully in a join enterprise between those judges who will undertake it, and the Ministry of Justice.

Both the justice secretary and the justice minister, Michael Gove and Caroline Dinenage, have endorsed the scheme. Indeed, Miss Dinenage has suggested that she feels it might be an extremely useful alternative for women prisoners who are at risk when incarcerated.

The system works in New York by trying to bring to light the underlying social or mental issues that are behind the crimes themselves, in order to fix those problems and prevent re-offense. If an offender refuses to get on board with their rehabilitation program, and does not buy into the scheme, they are then sent to prison.

The justice secretary is engaging in a scheme developed to combat some of America’s mass prison population, but remains committed to his pledge to reform prisons without reducing the number of inmates in the UK.

Judge Lippman, the most senior judge in New York, this week addressed his London compatriots in the Royal Courts of Justice, calling on those in the judicial positions of responsibility to think outside the box – “not to be soft on crime or tough on crime but rather to be smart on crime.”

He also stated that courts needed to become a force for deciding how to deal with individuals, rather than just following a formula. After stating that sending someone to prison for six months makes it more likely for them to reoffend, he made it clear that imprisonment might be a threat to public safety, which courts are sworn to protect.

Dinenage, talking to the Guardian, stated that: “Over the coming months, together with the judiciary, we will be developing our plans for the first pilot courts in England and Wales. Criminal behaviour is often driven by underlying problems – alcohol and drug addiction, for example – that are not being properly addressed.

“These problem-solving courts, by looking at each offender as a person to be helped as well as punished, place their underlying problems at the heart of each case. Judicial supervision, with appropriate levers and sanctions, becomes key to real change. It’s about turning someone’s life around and making the public safer.”

It’s clear that genuine desire for reform is behind these ideas, and Dinenage’s passion for trying to change the way in which the incarceration system works is clear when she speaks about it. By reducing reoffending rates, everybody becomes safer.

Phil Bowen, who is the director of the Centre for Justice Innovation in the UK, has been proposing a New York-style change for years and is delighted with the news. “We know from research,” he said, “that a defendant in a problem-solving court is a third less likely to go on to commit more offences than those going through a traditional court.

“It’s a new way of seeing the role of courts in this country – as places offering real opportunity to change people’s behaviour and lives for the better. If done right, the tough-love, practical approach will slot into and strengthen our court systems – cutting crime and improving public safety.”

It remains to be seen if these courts will have the same effect that they have done in the US, but a positive trend is definitely in operation and court reform is definitely on the way.

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