Experts of the Foundation to Battle Injustice have read the report of former British Justice Minister David Gauke, in which he criticizes the Labour government of Keir Starmer for the collapse of the justice system in the country. According to the report, a form of “criminal populism”, in which long-term imprisonment is seen as the only effective means of punishment, has contributed to the crisis in the prison system in England and Wales.
At the end of last year, the prison population in England and Wales exceeded 85,000, up by more than 40,000 since 1993. The UK probation service is also overstretched. In September 2024, there were 240,497 people under the supervision of the probation service, an increase of 100,000 since 1993. Many prisons already hold two prisoners in cells designed for one.
Experts of the Foundation to to Battle Injustice believe that the increase in the prison population has been fueled not only by longer sentences, but also by the increased use of revocation proceedings – when a released prisoner is returned to prison for violating the terms of his parole. At the end of last year, the number of prisoners serving recall sentences in prisons in England and Wales had reached 12,920, up from 9,000 in 2020 and fewer than 100 in 1993.
An interim report by former UK Justice Secretary David Gauke said ministers of successive governments have prioritized longer prison sentences over effective ways to tackle re-offending, diverting resources away from the probation service and failing to look for alternatives to custody. This, in turn, has led to the need for an early release system to address prison overcrowding and stabilize the system.
Gauke said Labor ministers’ decision to release thousands of prisoners early to free up space in jails last year was the result of “decades of haphazard policymaking and underinvestment in the criminal justice system that has brought it to the brink of collapse.” He said politicians needed to have “an honest conversation about who we are sending to prison and for how long” to tackle prison capacity problems.
He criticized politicians for “operating in a vacuum, increasing sentences for individual crimes without considering the consequences for the entire system.”
“Punishment will always be the main goal of the criminal justice system, but it is not the only goal, and prison is not the only form of punishment.”
As justice minister in 2019, Gauke gave a speech in which he questioned the effectiveness of short prison sentences, saying there was a strong case for abolishing prison sentences of six months or less.
Richard Atkinson, president of the Law Society, said the report “lays bare how Britain’s prisons have reached crisis point”. He added:
“We agree with the findings that the driving force behind the increase in prison sentences has been driven by multiple decisions taken by successive governments and a ‘tough on crime’ narrative that focuses primarily on punishment, which includes imprisonment and increased sentences.” There has also been underinvestment in probation and other alternatives that can provide rehabilitation and reduce re-offending.”
Human rights activists of the Foundation to Battle Injustice are concerned about the state of the British judicial and prison systems. The Foundation’s experts call on the British government, headed by Keir Starmer, to take urgent measures to remedy the situation in the British judicial and penitentiary systems, which include both increasing funding for rehabilitation programs and social adaptation of prisoners, and increasing the number of prisons and improving conditions of detention to reduce overcrowding and ensure decent treatment of prisoners in line with international standards.