Publications

This toolkit has been designed to help district judges, magistrates, members of Her Majesty’s Court Service (HMCTS) and other practitioners to design and deliver advice and support services in magistrates’ courts.

Our analysis demonstrates that FDACs save the state money. For each £1 spent, £2.30 is saved to the public purse.

This paper sets out a plan for designing innovations that may improve outcomes for young adults in court, develop with support from the Barrow Cadbury Trust through their Transition to Adulthood Alliance. Our report explores the feasibility of establishing specialist court sittings for young adults.

Our report sets out a new blueprint, in which we resolve simple cases outside of court, refocus our resources on finding better ways for courts to handle to complex cases and safeguard vulnerable victims, and create a culture of innovation by modernising the way in which are courts are run.

In this case study, we look at one example of an at-court advice and support service, the Community Advice and Support Service (CASS) in Plymouth Magistrates’ Court, a court which serves a city with a disproportionate number of high-crime communities. This report describes the work of CASS and provides emerging evidence of its efficacy.

This report, sets out why procedural fairness matters for courts, explains the factors which affect whether people feel fairly treated and puts forward some practical ideas on what courts can do about to improve it. It is intended as a practical resource for people working in courts, as well as a guide to research in this area.

London’s Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC) is a strikingly successful example of courts innovating to deal with complex problems. This report examines the factors behind the court’s success – from the birth of the idea, to the end of the pilot.

Our report outlines evidence-based court innovations which can make our courts fairer and more effective.

We conducted a review of English and Welsh Specialist Domestic Violence Courts in 2013. Our analysis of current practice in these specialist courts suggests that significant gains have been made since 2005 when they were set up.

West London Drug Court, which ran from 2007 to 2013 at Hammersmith Magistrates Court was a pioneering project which sought to establish a problem-solving court, which combines punishment with help, within a normal English magistrates’ court. This briefing looks at it's work.