1 - Why Wales?

Summary

Introduction

This book is about criminal justice under austerity. It tells the stories of how those who work in or go through the criminal justice system experience criminal justice. In telling these stories, we focus on voices from Wales. Wales is the site of this research and the book provides a snapshot of how criminal justice is experienced in Wales at a time of austerity. Wales has been too often ignored in consideration of the criminal justice system of England and Wales, so we offer the insights of those with whom we spoke in south Wales to provoke fresh dialogue about criminal justice in the country. We hope the experiences we present will inform discussions about criminal justice in Wales, and across England and Wales.

We began this research at an event listening to heartfelt accounts regarding police racial profiling and the frustrations of the working class community in the heart of Cardiff's former docks area, once known as Tiger Bay (one of the UK's first multicultural communities). The event was the first public meeting of the Commission on Justice in Wales, and was held at the Butetown Community Centre, a location resolutely part of the local community and thus challenging some received notions of the justice system having become detached from the people it serves. The meeting was billed as an equality and engagement event for the first review in over 200 years into the operation of the justice system in Wales. It provided an opportunity to understand the everyday experiences of justice in Wales within the communities who most suffer injustice. During this event we heard enlivening but sobering reflections on how locals felt let down by the criminal justice system; it allowed us to hear first hand the realities of those engaging with the system, particularly how the community felt ignored – and discriminated against – by the police and the broader criminal justice system.

Most importantly, it reminded us of why we undertake research on the criminal justice system, highlighting the need for empirical study to engage with on-the-ground lived experiences, whether as practitioner, accused or indeed the wider community. It further highlighted the deep and long-lasting impact of criminal justice on families and communities, and the wrongfully accused and/or convicted.