Innocent until proven guilty is an ancient principle of English law. Given this, there’s a presumption that those pleading not guilty should be granted bail, so they can live in the community while waiting for their trial.
But too many people are imprisoned before a court has found them innocent or guilty. Remand – as this type of imprisonment is known – is overused. Most people on remand do not go on to receive a prison sentence, and many have not been accused of a violent offence. Even a short period of imprisonment destroys family ties and community links and can lead to loss of job and home.
We appear to have drifted far from the principle of using remand only when completely necessary. Our research and advocacy challenges the deprivation of liberty of the thousands of children and adults on remand in prison.
Being remanded to custody deprives children of their liberty when they protest their innocence, disrupts education, severs positive social relationships with family and friends, and is a traumatic experience. Children should only be imprisoned pre-trial as an absolute last resort.
While the number of children remanded has reduced in recent years, too many children are still remanded unnecessarily. The population of children on remand also has one of the starkest racial disparities in the criminal justice system. Black and mixed heritage boys are particularly overrepresented. And children on remand from minoritised communities are more likely to be acquitted or have their cases discontinued than other defendants.
Transform Justice is delighted to be partnering with the Co-op Foundation on a three-year project to reduce the use of custodial remand for children.
Too many children are imprisoned before a court has found them innocent or guilty. Remand has many negative consequences for a child. It deprives them of their liberty when they protest their innocence, disrupts education, severs positive social relationships with family and friends, and is a traumatic experience.
Despite only being intended as a last resort, evidence shows that remand is used more often than necessary. Remanded children now make up 45% of the child prison population. Most children who are remanded do not go on to receive a prison sentence. A significant proportion have been charged with non-violent offences.
This report analyses existing data on the children who are imprisoned on remand, and the reasons why they are remanded, and puts forward recommendations for practice change that would bring about a reduction in the number of children imprisoned on remand.
