The criminal law firm for social justice

Parliamentarians, policymakers and criminal justice practitioners gathered at the Houses of Parliament last week to discuss how holistic defence approaches could help address the growing courts backlog in England and Wales. The breakfast briefing, hosted by Commons and the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies explored lessons from New York’s Bronx Defenders pioneering model and how similar approaches might support justice reform in the UK.

Young people seeking asylum in the UK face a double punishment if they commit a crime—first through the criminal justice system, then by the immigration system. A single conviction - even for a minor crime - can delay or destroy their asylum claims, a compounding injustice given their background experience.

Commons released our second report, in conjunction with the Migrants Law Project, investigating the unnecessary criminalisation of Young Asylum Seekers. Benny Hunter, the report author, exposes the systematic failures that trap these vulnerable people:

• Stop and search practices that deepen mistrust of police

• Controversial age assessments for unaccompanied child migrants based on appearance alone

• Absent interpreters or poor understanding of a defendant's native language leading to miscarriages of justice

• Clients not being advised of a potential defence under the Modern Slavery Act by lawyers 

Despite these challenges, we outline what needs to change to protect young people who've already survived trauma - to ensure all get equal access to justice.