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COPR is proud to host the SEBP West Midlands Regional Conference on the 22nd June 2016.

The keynote speaker, Professor Neil Stewart from COPR will begin by discussing his research into 'Police Big Data: Custody, Complaints and Sickness'. Professor Jackie Hodgson, also from COPR, will discuss measuring police confidence, followed by another member of COPR, Divya Sukumar who will discuss the impact of police evidence disclosure on custodial legal advice.

The afternoon will entail contributions from Dr Tony Kearon of Keele University on 'Police and knowledge exchange - knowlege informed practice or practice informed knowledge', Sgt John Tanner who will discuss Evidence Based Leadership, and Professor Geoff Berry from the University of Derby who will present a 'Plenary discussion on EBP'.

To register for this free event, please email K.Hearty@warwick.ac.uk

Jackie Hodgson and Laurène Soubise have a new forthcoming publication in 45 Crime and Justice (ed. Michael Tonry), Sentencing Policies and Practices in Western Countries:Comparative and Cross-National Perspectives, on 'Understanding the Sentencing Process in France'.

French sentencing is characterized by broad judicial discretion and an ethos of individualized justice that is adapted to the rehabilitation of the offender. The current approach aims to prevent recidivism through rehabilitation and so protect the interests of society as well as reintegrating the offender as reformed citizen. In opposition to this approach is that of the political right, characterized by the recent Sarkozy regime, which favors deterrence through harsher penalties, minimum prison sentences and increased incarceration, including after the sentence has been served in the case of offenders considered dangerous. This article looks at the practice as well as the theory of French sentencing and locates the sentencing process (for it is a process, not a single event) within the broader context of French inquisitorially rooted criminal procedure. It argues that the central part played by the prosecutor in criminal cases (including in case disposition through alternative sanctions), her role in recommending a sentence to the court and the court’s invariable decision to follow this suggestion, together with the unitary mature of the French judicial profession, means that despite the broad discretion afforded the sentencing judge, there is a remarkable degree of consistency in the penalties imposed. It examines the range of penalties available and considers the most recent addition put forward by the Consensus Commission and legislated in 2014, the contrainte pénale, suggesting that this is unlikely to have a great impact without the investment of resources in the probation service and a change in the judicial culture which still favors simple sentencing options, including imprisonment, to the array of alternative options now in place.

The JUSTICE Human Rights Law Conference will take place on 14 October 2016. It offers a key opportunity to update your legal knowledge and gain valuable insight into the human rights issues of the year.

The Rt. Hon. Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore and Phillippa Kaufmann QC will be keynote speakers. The programme for this year’s event will focus on the challenges facing practitioners and the wider public policy debate on human rights law in the UK with workshops on crime, judicial review, immigration, key case-law from Europe, and the ECHR and accountability.

View the full programme.

Book your place now.

Now open for booking at an early bird rate, an additional discount is available for JUSTICE members. All income from the event will directly support the work of JUSTICE.

Don't miss:

• An unequalled review of essential case-law developments in the 'Review of the Year'
• Workshops on crime, judicial review, immigration and key case-law from Europe
• Exceptional keynote speakers

The Criminal Justice Centre's Professor Jackie Hodgson and Juliet Horne have submitted written evidence to the joint investigation by the Howard League for Penal Reform and the Centre for Mental Health into preventing prisoner suicide. The submission is based on their research report ‘Imagining more than just a prisoner: The work of Prisoners’ Penfriends’ which was launched at the House of Lords in June last year. The report is available here.

On Tuesday 26 April 2016, CJC members Prof Jackie Hodgson and doctoral student Juliet Horne attended by invitation the Diocese of Worcester Criminal Justice Affairs Group Workshop. Juliet was part of a panel of experts alongside experienced practitioners from the CPS, the Court Service, the National Probation Service, West Mercia Police and the criminal defence profession. Chaired by His Honour Toby Hooper, the panel discussed the theme of ’Securing Criminal Justice in Times of Austerity’ with an audience of policy-makers, practitioners and representatives of faith communities. The discussion will form the basis of a paper to be presented by members of the Criminal Justice Affairs Group at the University of Worcester and William Temple Foundation’s “Social Justice: building a fairer, more equal society” Conference in June 2016.