Commission
The commission for transforming justice
About the commission
The Commission on Transforming Justice explores how the UK can reduce crime, prioritise rehabilitation, and build a safer, fairer justice system. Our prisons are close to full capacity and reoffending remains high. Against this backdrop, reform is urgent: this Commission explores how a smarter, more humane approach to justice can deliver better outcomes.
Our vision
Reform prisons
Prisons within the UK are overcrowded and often fail to rehabilitate offenders. We believe that the justice system should focus on reform, helping prisoners move away from crime and reintegrate into society. This includes integrating high-quality education and skills training into the prison system to reduce disadvantage and improve outcomes.
Reduce crime
Despite decades of “tough on crime” policies, crime rates in the UK remain high. We support a new approach that tackles the root causes of reoffending by focusing on prison reform and effective rehabilitation will ultimately lower crime in the long term.
Reduce prison numbers
To reduce overcrowding, we support alternatives to prison for minor offences alongside improvements to existing facilities, ensuring that they are fit for rehabilitation. This strategy will help lower the prison population while building a more effective and humane justice system.
Our work
Our evidence was included in a submission to the Justice Committee. This submission covers the future prison population and estate capacity.
In this interview, we spoke to Minister of State in the Home Office and Member of the House of Lords, Lord Hanson.
This is a written interview between the Director of Centre Think Tank, Torrin Wilkins, and Ben Crewe, who is the Deputy Director of the Prisons Research Centre at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge.
This paper shows how Norwegian prisons focus on rehabilitation and reducing reoffending rates. It also explores the UK prison system and how we can reform it.
This paper shows why we should keep local justice areas and how removing them would impact the justice system.
Our event on the UK prison system and how we can learn from Norwegian prisons
In this interview, we spoke to Criminal Defence, Civil Rights Attorney, and star of the Netflix series The Staircase, David Rudolf.
In this interview, we spoke to Chris Daw KC who is a lawyer, writer, and broadcaster.
Research team
Louie Sadler
Transforming Justice Commission Lead
Louie is a paralegal working in corporate and commercial law at the regional law firm, Wilkin Chapman Rollits, whilst also studying towards his exams to qualify as a lawyer.
Torrin Wilkins
Director and Founder
Torrin is the Founder and Director of the Centre. His experience includes authoring over a dozen papers and over one hundred policies. His policies have been backed by an All-Party Parliamentary Group of over 260 MPs and included in various party manifestos. He regularly appears in a wide range of print and broadcast media and previously had a weekly column for a national publication. He also has a degree in Political Studies from Aberystwyth University.
Jasneet Samrai
Deputy Director, External Affairs
Jasneet works at the Royal College of Physicians and has previously held roles at Breast Cancer Now and Oxfam. They also worked as a campaign organiser, helping to elect three MEPs. Jasneet currently serves as Head of Pastoral Care.
Documents
Structure of commissions