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This book reports on research which investigates the perceptions of
ethnic minorities concerning their treatment in the criminal
courts. It examines the extent to which ethnic minority defendants
and witnesses in both the Crown Court and the magistrates' courts
perceived their treatment to have been unfair, whether they
believed any unfairness to have been the result of ethnic bias, and
whether this had affected their confidence in the criminal courts.
The study, carried out by the Oxford Centre for Criminological
Research in association with the University of Birmingham for the
Lord Chancellor's Department, involved observations of cases and
interviews with more than a thousand people (defendants, witnesses,
barristers, solicitors, judges, magistrates and others), and
focused on courts in Manchester, Birmingham and London. A Fair
Hearing? Ethnic minorities in the criminal courts begins by showing
how widely held the belief has been that ethnic minorities are
discriminated against by the courts and by other agencies in the
criminal justice system. It discusses the factors that contributed
to this belief, including the findings of the Macpherson Report and
the notion of 'institutional racism'. The main part of the book
then looks at the institutional setting in which the research took
place, the experience of defendants and witnesses, their views
about how they were treated by the criminal courts, and the views
of others involved in the court process. Final chapters in the book
address the issue of sensitivity to ethnicity on the part of
judges, magistrates and lawyers. It shows that attitudes and
practices are perceived to have changed for the better and examines
what more needs to be done to increase the confidence that members
of ethnic minorities have in the fairness of the criminal courts.
This book reports on research which investigates the perceptions of
ethnic minorities concerning their treatment in the criminal
courts. It examines the extent to which ethnic minority defendants
and witnesses in both the Crown Court and the magistrates' courts
perceived their treatment to have been unfair, whether they
believed any unfairness to have been the result of ethnic bias, and
whether this had affected their confidence in the criminal courts.
The study, carried out by the Oxford Centre for Criminological
Research in association with the University of Birmingham for the
Lord Chancellor's Department, involved observations of cases and
interviews with more than a thousand people (defendants, witnesses,
barristers, solicitors, judges, magistrates and others), and
focused on courts in Manchester, Birmingham and London. A Fair
Hearing? Ethnic minorities in the criminal courts begins by showing
how widely held the belief has been that ethnic minorities are
discriminated against by the courts and by other agencies in the
criminal justice system. It discusses the factors that contributed
to this belief, including the findings of the Macpherson Report and
the notion of 'institutional racism'. The main part of the book
then looks at the institutional setting in which the research took
place, the experience of defendants and witnesses, their views
about how they were treated by the criminal courts, and the views
of others involved in the court process. Final chapters in the book
address the issue of sensitivity to ethnicity on the part of
judges, magistrates and lawyers. It shows that attitudes and
practices are perceived to have changed for the better and examines
what more needs to be done to increase the confidence that members
of ethnic minorities have in the fairness of the criminal courts.
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