Prisons and probation
-
Portugal shows the way ahead on drugs policyLetters: Yasmin Batliwala and Ian McCauley praise Portugal’s non-punitive approach to drug addiction
-
Prison inspectors given powers to alert minister to urgent problemsJustice secretary announces ‘urgent notification protocol’ to help improve conditions in English and Welsh jails
-
Defendants with mental health issues 'neglected' in England and WalesReport by Justice suggests introduction of specialist prosecutors and a change to the defence of insanity
-
It was humane to pursue the hope of rehabilitation; and it’s right to act decisively now in the face of new risks, says Guardian columnist Deborah OrrSociety did right by James Bulger’s killers
-
Our shameful policy of locking up young peopleLetters: Frances Crook of the Howard League for Penal Reform says we should be closing down our youth prison system, not expanding it; David Scott says England and Wales stand virtually alone in the EU in the use of child life sentences
Observer critics' review of 2017 Miranda Sawyer’s best radio of 2017