Recommendations for criminal justice agencies following incidents of serious harm and homicide in Wales: avenues for change?

• In Event: Crime, Science and Politics WG Panel 5: Alternative Justice Pathways and Control Mechanisms

Abstract

In response to incidents of serious harm, abuse and homicide, statutory reviews have emerged as a key opportunity to identify practice and policy improvements to prevent future incidents. A key part of these review processes are the large numbers of recommendations being made across different agencies, including health, education and criminal justice. Despite their importance for understanding problems and improvements in the response to serious harm or homicide, few studies have systematically analysed a corpus of recommendations. This paper presents findings from an analysis of 1,600 recommendations from over 170 statutory reviews of serious incidents in Wales (between 2008 and 2025). Cases include domestic homicides, instances of child and adult harm or neglect, and homicides perpetrated by individuals in contact with mental health agencies. Recommendations targeting criminal justice agencies will be the focus of this paper, namely police, courts, prisons, probation, youth justice, as well as national government.

Within our analysis, each recommendation has been coded with up to 4 topics from 20 categories, from information sharing and multi-agency working, to professional responsibility and record keeping. As well as exploring recurring issues identified in recommendations over time, this paper will highlight the relationships between specific topics and criminal justice agencies. Case studies will be used to illustrate these broader themes in the context of particular incidents. With recommendations intended to offer clear avenues for change and improvement, implications for criminal justice policy and practice will be discussed.

Authors

• Bethan Davies, Cardiff University

• Amanda Robinson, Cardiff University