Papers by Christine Piper
Undercurrents of Divorce, 2019
In the context of the history of the Adoption and Children Act 2002, this article contrasts the a... more In the context of the history of the Adoption and Children Act 2002, this article contrasts the approach of English legislation and case-law with the Family Code of the Russian Federation in relation to a child’s right to veto decisions made about his future. Referring to empirical research conducted in Russia, it concludes that there is considerable merit in requiring the child’s consent.
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Assessment is not only a major practice tool for social workers and medical professionals but als... more Assessment is not only a major practice tool for social workers and medical professionals but also a gatekeeper. It operates to open or close the way for intervention or treatment for a child or his family in the same way that the Crown Prosecutor controls entry to the courts when applying prosecution guidance. Furthermore, the scope and results of the assessment influence or determine the nature and extent of the intervention. Consequently, assessment, comprising of the investigation and the professional conclusions drawn from it, can categorise children – in relation to ss 17, 37 or 47 of the Children Act 1989 – as in need of services or make them the focus of compulsory measures to address significant harm. Compliance with detailed guidance about assessment and the completion of the requisite questionnaires, scales and pro forma also constitute a type of insurance for those who work in a field where certainty of outcome is impossible. It is difficult, then, to over-estimate the i...
This article appeared on the OUP Blog Website on 7 September 2011. The final version can be acces... more This article appeared on the OUP Blog Website on 7 September 2011. The final version can be accessed at the link below.
Sentencing and Punishment
This chapter reviews the impact of imprisonment on specific groups of prisoners. It discusses the... more This chapter reviews the impact of imprisonment on specific groups of prisoners. It discusses the experience of imprisonment for specific groups, including women and ethnic minorities. Issues discussed include the problems facing female prisoners in maintaining family contact and the health needs of women in prison. The treatment of BAME prisoners is also considered, with reference to a range of issues, including racial harassment and discrimination. The problems facing foreign national prisoners are also discussed. Other groups considered include religious minorities, TACT prisoners, LGBTQ + prisoners, prisoners with disabilities, and older prisoners. Policies which aim to reduce the risk of unfair treatment are also examined.
Sentencing and Punishment, 2016
Sentencing and Punishment, 2016
This chapter focuses on the treatment of adult prisoners, examining a number of aspects of prison... more This chapter focuses on the treatment of adult prisoners, examining a number of aspects of prison life as well as considering the aims of imprisonment. Key developments since 1990 are considered, including the Woolf Report, managerialism and privatisation, the impact of the Human Rights Act 1998, and the debate on prisoners' right to vote, to assess whether the just treatment of prisoners has been achieved. While substantial improvements in prison regimes have been made since the early 1990s, there has also been considerable pressure on them from the expanding prison population. The problem of reconciling respect for the human rights of prisoners with the administrative needs of the prison system and the deterrent function of prisons will be highlighted. The potential to limit prison expansion in the current political climate will also be considered.
Sentencing and Punishment, 2016
This chapter begins by discussing the nature of punishment before focusing on key questions in pe... more This chapter begins by discussing the nature of punishment before focusing on key questions in penal policy including justice, risk, and human rights. It also considers the principal factors that shape the development of penal policy, notably political imperatives, economic influences, and penological and criminological principles, as well as public opinion and the media, which have become much more influential since the early 1990s. Recent penal policy developments are also discussed to highlight significant trends and problems. The chapter concludes by focusing on the governance of sex offenders and providing a case study and discussion questions for reflection on the issues.
Sentencing and Punishment, 2016
This chapter begins by examining the increased policy focus on victims of crime and their more re... more This chapter begins by examining the increased policy focus on victims of crime and their more recent involvement in the sentencing process via victim impact statements. It reviews changes in sentencing law which have aimed to ensure the offender does not profit from crime-such as confiscation orders-and that the offender pays financial compensation to the victim. Secondly, it discusses conflicting approaches to a focus on the impact of a sentence on the offender or the offender's family, covering justifications from penology and evidence-from research and appellate cases-of practice in the courts. This includes discussion of the role of personal mitigation in retributivist and utilitarian sentencing and the influence it may have on the outcome for less serious cases.
Sentencing and Punishment, 2016
This chapter considers the experience of imprisonment for specific groups, namely women (includin... more This chapter considers the experience of imprisonment for specific groups, namely women (including mothers), ethnic minorities, disabled prisoners, religious minorities, and gay, lesbian, and transgender prisoners. There is also more focus on the experience of foreign national prisoners and the growing number of olderprisoners. Policies that aim to reduce the risk of unfair treatment to these groups and their impact are reviewed, as is the framework of legislation designed to promote equality and human rights. The approach taken to race equality has now been extended to other groups. The framework of equality law is considered, including the Equality Act 2010 and its equality duty. The importance of gender-specific penal policies is also discussed.
Sentencing and Punishment, 2016
This chapter examines the ways in which sentencing discretion is limited: a sentencing system in ... more This chapter examines the ways in which sentencing discretion is limited: a sentencing system in which there were no controls on how the judge or magistrate came to a decision on sentence would not be a principled system and could lead to injustice in individual cases. This chapter, therefore, examines the ways in which sentencing discretion is constrained, not only through law and guidance but also through the use of a justificatory principle as a constraint. In particular, it reviews the development of new forms of sentencing guidance, notably the definitive guidelines produced by the Sentencing Council, and discusses in detail the importance of a retributivist rationale. It explains classical retributivism, with a focus on Kant and Hegel, as well as modern retributivism.
Sentencing and Punishment, 2016
This chapter focuses on the ways and the extent to which the courts deal differently with childre... more This chapter focuses on the ways and the extent to which the courts deal differently with children and young people under 18 who commit criminal offences or behave antisocially. It therefore covers the new criminal behaviour orders and injunctions as well as parenting orders. It then reviews the sentencing options available to the Youth and Crown Courts in dealing with young offenders, and examines the current practices and policy trends in relation to both community and custodial penalties for young offenders. In particular, the chapter covers the YRO (Youth Rehabilitation Order) and the Detention and Training order. It highlights the continuing deficiencies in the care of young people detained in young offender institutions and secure training centres, especially in regard to methods of restraint, and examines the advantages and limitations of using children's rights and human rights to ensure more appropriate treatment of children and young people who commit offences.
How effective is non-custodial sentencing in achieving compliance with road traffic law?
We began drafting this article the day that the headline in a national newspaper warned us (again... more We began drafting this article the day that the headline in a national newspaper warned us (again) of 'prisons near bursting point' with only 300 spare places, which were likely to be filled within a couple of days. 1 This was not unexpected, as the UK has one of the highest incarceration rates in Western Europe, 2 and also higher levels of sentencing. 3 In the period 1992-2002 there was an increase in the custody rate-the proportion of the total number sentenced who receive a custodial sentence-from 44% to 64%. The average custodial sentence length for adults also increased: that for indictable offences in the Crown Court in 2005 was 25.9 months, compared with 20.8 months in 1995. 4 Further, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, Anne Owers, has repeatedly expressed concern at the crisis resulting from the current overcrowding and the Prison Service Performance Ratings published in May 2007 showed more deterioration than improvement. Three prisons had moved up a level, and six prisons had moved down, since the previous quarter. 5 Yet, we are told, the next Criminal Justice Bill 6 will be the fifty-fourth law and order measure since Labour came to power. 7 It was clearly not the intention of anyonegovernment, prison reformers, the tax payer, human rights lawyers, or the Prison Service itself-that, despite a plethora of legislative provisions over 10 years, a prison building programme and widespread change within what we have (almost) learnt to refer to as the correctional services, 8 prison numbers would have passed 80,000 9 and that a crisis level of overcrowding would again be imminent. Law and order politics A key contributory factor is that the 'tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime' New Labour mantra is fundamentally flawed as a communication for popular consumption, given its political context. As we are well aware, 10 in the 1990s law and order became increasingly politicised and 'tough on crime'-unmodified by any mention of the causes of crime-which was what the media and public appeared to want, and none of the Conservative or Labour governments since the early 1990s has had the courage or desire to let go of the more punitive part of the slogan. So public opinion was a key influence on penal policy in the 1990s and, by reacting to perceived public concern on crime and disorder, governments have, arguably, increased public punitiveness. This has also perpetuated the belief that crime can, and should, be controlled through punishment, an important element of Labour's penal policy and one reflected, for
Case 12(22): Conciliator l. 42. Case 15(3): Conciliator 13. 43. Case 24(29): Conciliator 7. 44. C... more Case 12(22): Conciliator l. 42. Case 15(3): Conciliator 13. 43. Case 24(29): Conciliator 7. 44. Case 12(5): Conciliator 2 and also at 12(17). 45. Case 12(17): Conciliator 1-46. Case 22(1): Conciliator 3.
Of Innocence and Autonomy, 2018
The index gives five page references under 'children, sexuality and' (and none in regard to 'chil... more The index gives five page references under 'children, sexuality and' (and none in regard to 'childhood') and these are all references to brief mentions and assumptions.
Modern Law Review, 1999
The provisions of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 ('the Act') relating to children and young peop... more The provisions of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 ('the Act') relating to children and young people came as no surprise to those with academic and professional interests in youth justice and crime prevention, such provisions being based on measures previously outlined in the White Paper, No More Excuses-A New Approach to Tackling Youth Crime in England and Wales, 1 and in the Audit Commission's Report, Misspent Youth, Young People and Crime. 2 However, the scope and significance of those provisions may have escaped more general notice, partly because the title does not suggest a focus on children and young people and also because debate, in Parliament and the media, in the weeks immediately before the Act received the Royal Assent on 31 July 1998, was dominated by controversy around an amendment, which was not enacted, to lower the age of consent for homosexual sex from 18 to 16 years. 3 The Act as a whole provides new court orders relating to the prevention and punishment of crime and disorder, amends the criminal law and revises aspects of the youth and adult criminal justice systems. However, the Act's title does not give any indication that so many of
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Papers by Christine Piper