A new report by a law reform charity has found that justice devolution in the North has stalled, undermined by fragmented delivery and a lack of strategic support. 

According to JUSTICE North, despite clear evidence that devolving decision-making to local leaders delivers better outcomes than central control, progress has been inconsistent and constrained by funding gaps and weak consultation, collaboration and evaluation. As a result, a piecemeal and siloed approach has seen the region fall behind other parts of the country. 

The new northern division of the cross-party law reform charity JUSTICE, based at Broudie Jackson Canter’s Liverpool headquarters, makes the case for change with a series of recommendations in its inaugural report Closer to Home: Principles for a Justice System Shaped by Communities. 

Its findings are based on interviews with stakeholders including the Ministry of Justice, lawyers, police, probation, public servants, academics and community organisations.  

Fiona Rutherford, Chief Executive of JUSTICE, said: 

“This government came into power with the promise to give people control of what matters to them. Yet current Westminster focus could not be further from the task of giving communities a role in building justice systems they can trust.  

“The North shows what’s possible when local leaders and citizens work together to match justice services to local needs. JUSTICE North aims to nurture and highlight these exciting green shoots while ensuring central government creates the conditions to bring justice closer to home for us all.”    

The report highlights that, whilst there is no “one size fits all” model, locally led initiatives can and do work well. They include Liverpool Crown Court which, through initiatives like encouraging plea bargains and inverting the common practice of placing less serious cases as the lowest priority, has reduced the average wait from charge to trial to 206 days. This is more than 100 days faster than the national average.  

JUSTICE North cautions against repeating past mistakes and implementing further measures “without adequate engagement, clarity or coordination" and suggests eight principles for reform: 

• Meaningful local consultation: Changes to justice functions must be developed with communities, rather than announced and imposed upon them. 

• Accountability: Given the need for variation in successful justice devolution, clear oversight and responsibility are needed. 

• Transparency: Without clear, accessible information on outcomes, cross-area comparisons are difficult, and policy learning is stunted.  

• Share best practice: Effective communication is essential to enable shared learning and improve the visibility of decision-making. 

• Use the right tool for the job: Decisions about justice devolution should be guided by the nature of the function concerned, rather than institutional convenience or geographic symmetry. 

• Bottom-up design: Locally driven decision-making is essential to ensure justice functions are delivered in a way that responds to local need and secures buy-in from stakeholders. 

• Long-term funding: Short-term grant arrangements and competitive bidding cycles undermine the long-term relationships and capacity required to deliver effective justice devolution.  

• Culture and institutional commitment: The most durable reforms are sustained by a shared purpose, genuine collaboration and institutional commitment. 

The report will be officially launched at the charity’s second annual ‘Journey to Justice’ event in Liverpool, organised in conjunction with its longest serving corporate member, Broudie Jackson Canter, and will form part of a discussion between two of most influential figures in the justice sector The Rt Hon. the Baroness Hale of Richmond DBE, former president of the Supreme Court, and The Right Hon. the Baroness Chakrabarti CBE, House of Lords member and former Shadow Attorney General. ‘Journey to Justice: The Long and Winding Road’ takes place on 30th April at Liverpool Town Hall. The event will be opened by Liverpool City Mayor, Steve Rotheram. 

Esther Leach, Managing Director of Broudie Jackson Canter, said: