People are more likely to have confidence in the justice system when they understand how it works, can see how decisions are made and feel that it operates in their interests, according to Public engagement with the justice system: an evidence review, by Samantha Atkinson and Professor Jessica Jacobson of Birkbeck, University of London.
Commissioned by the Nuffield Foundation as part of its Public right to justice (PRTJ) programme, the report examines three important aspects of public engagement with the justice system in England and Wales, and the role they can have in building trust and confidence. It finds that:
- Transparency enables people to observe, scrutinise and better understand how justice is delivered, supporting accountability and promoting public understanding of the legal system.
- Diversity among those responsible for delivering justice can help people see the system as fair and legitimate, particularly when judges, magistrates and decision-makers better the communities they serve, for example in terms of ethnicity, gender and socio-economic background.
- Public participation through roles such as jurors, magistrates, and tribunal panel members provides a direct connection between the public and the justice system, supporting democratic involvement in justice and bringing community values into decision-making.
The authors conclude that public engagement should be a central consideration in justice reform. While reforms are often designed to improve efficiency and reduce costs, policymakers should also consider how changes affect the public’s relationship with the justice system and the extent to which people are able to engage with and understand it.
The review identifies a strong case for continuing efforts to make courts more transparent, improve diversity among those who administer justice, and maintain opportunities for public participation. It also highlights significant gaps in understanding what meaningful public engagement looks like in practice and calls for further research into which approaches are most effective in building trust, confidence and legitimacy.
There is also a need for more robust evidence on how different forms of engagement shape relationships between the public and the justice system, and how they can best be supported as pressures on the system continue.
The justice system is facing significant challenges and there is growing recognition of the need for reform. This review highlights why public involvement should be an important part of that agenda. Understanding how different forms of involvement can influence trust and confidence in one of our most important public institutions should be central to any reform efforts.Rob Street, Director of Justice at the Foundation
