Racial discrimination in the criminal justice system is made more acute by a lack of data and analysis, report reveals

Disparity in the justice system between outcomes for defendants who are BAME and defendants who are white is being compounded by a lack of data needed to analyse the problem, The Centre for Justice Foundation has reported.

The data that is available shows acute disparities in certain offences – there are 141 black men in prison for every 100 white men in prison for drugs offences, and 227 black women for every 100 white women. An independent thinktank, The Centre for Justice Foundation has pointed out how a ‘trust deficit’ has been created by this appalling disparity, where black defendants who (understandably) have no faith in the system’s fairness are more likely not to plead guilty – and are therefore also more likely to receive harsher sentences. As the Law Gazette reports, adult BAME defendants are also more likely to be heard in a crown court and are more likely to be taken into custody.

However, the thinktank reports that there is no publicly available data on legal representation and ethnicity, while there is also no data on magistrates’ court decisions taking account of ethnicity either. This makes identifying effective ways to improve procedural fairness much more difficult.

Ismet Rawat, president of the Association of Muslim Lawyers, has said that the current situation is unacceptable, and that faith in the justice system has been eroded in black communities. She told the Law Gazette: “BAME defendants today are more aware of and more sensitised to discrimination. They are aware that they are far more likely to be stopped and searched, that they are far more likely to be charged, and that they are far more likely to be sent to prison than their white counterparts, and once there, far more likely to be discriminated against.”

Meanwhile, Labour MP David Lammy is due to publish his report to the government on discrimination in the criminal justice system this summer. He commented: “My review has taken me up and down the country, but repeated patterns are emerging. I heard more reports of disproportionate sentencing for minority ethnic groups, who described receiving longer prison terms than white offenders. These are worrying trends that I will explore further, before reporting to the prime minister.”