Recent event that demonstrates inequality in the criminal justice system

This month saw the release of emerging findings from the Lammy Review, an investigation into the treatment of ethnic minorities in the criminal justice system across England and Wales. The aim of the review is to gather the latest evidence and make recommendations to ensure that everyone in the system – in court, prison, secure youth institution or rehabilitation – is ‘treated equally, whatever their race or ethnicity’.

So far, the review has found that Black men are over three times more likely to be arrested than White men, ethnic minorities are more likely to receive prison sentences, and Black men are more likely than White men to be placed in high security prisons for some categories of offence.

This confirms the findings in the Commission’s recent report on race (Healing a divided Britain), published in August. We reported on a range of areas where race discrimination is evident and examined how it has impacted different ethnic groups. For example, across England and Wales, Black men are five times more likely to be stopped and searched than White men, ethnic minorities in police custody are significantly more likely to be physically restrained than White people, and 40% of prisoners under 18 were from Black, Asian, Mixed or ‘Other’ groups during 2014 to 2015. 

David Lammy MP points to the danger that the over-representation of ethnic minorities in the criminal justice system can breed a culture of ‘them and us’. Earlier this year, I warned that a ‘failure to tackle deep-rooted race inequality will exacerbate divisions in our society’. 

We are encouraged to note that the Lammy Review was launched due to growing concerns across political parties about race inequality in the criminal justice system. It is a strategic approach, seeking a long term solution, rather than in reaction to public order or tragic events. The interim findings come soon after Theresa May’s first speech as Prime Minister when she committed to ‘make Britain a country that works for everyone’. She referred to the different experiences of Black and White people in everyday life and in the criminal justice system. She has also launched an audit of how race affects people’s experiences of public services across health, education and employment. We welcome this initiative and look forward to the findings. 

However, it is our view that these actions do not go far enough. Race discrimination cannot be successfully eliminated through piecemeal and disjointed efforts, focusing on a few specific themes, rather than the big picture. Our report on race revealed a worrying picture of a post-Brexit rise in hate crime and long-term systemic unfairness and race inequality. For example, it found that:

• race discrimination cases dropped by 61% since the introduction of fees in employment tribunals
• Black workers with degrees are paid 23.1% less on average than White workers with degrees
• ethnic minorities are still hugely underrepresented in positions of power
• Black African women had a mortality rate four times higher than White women in the UK
• in school, Black Caribbean and Mixed White/Black Caribbean children have rates of permanent exclusion about three times that of the pupil population as a whole

In other words, ethnic minorities continue to face stubborn obstacles in all areas of life – in accessing justice, in employment, education and health.

Earlier this year, we published our submission to the UN on the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD)(PDF). This was an independent assessment of whether the UK is fulfilling its human rights obligations in relation to race, and revealed a similarly bleak picture. We put forward a number of recommendations, including the need for a full-scale review of the effectiveness of the aggravated offences and enhanced sentencing provisions for hate crimes in England and Wales, and for police forces to use monitoring, training and scrutiny to ensure stop and search is used lawfully and in a non-discriminatory way.  

We look forward to the publication of the Lammy Review next year and will consider how we can use our unique influencing role to ensure the recommendations are successfully embedded. In the meantime, we continue to urge the UK government to develop a comprehensive, coordinated and long-term strategy for tackling race inequality.

Video statement by Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Excellencies,
Distinguished colleagues,

Thank you for the opportunity to participate in today’s event.

Fair trial. Equal access to justice. Due process. These are just some of the fundamental human rights central to today’s discussion.

They are rights which should be enjoyed by all, without discrimination.

Yet around the world, these rights are in peril, threatened by criminal justice systems which discriminate, harass, and intimidate.

The United Nations human rights mechanisms have long documented concerns about policies and practices in law enforcement and the criminal justice system which affect various groups disproportionately, in particular racial and ethnic minorities.

The evidence is clear: racial profiling, harassment, verbal abuse and abuse of power by law enforcement officials are widespread in many countries. So too are discriminatory stop-and-search measures, ill-treatment, arbitrary arrests, and excessive use of force, at times leading to death.

And all too often, these human rights violations are accompanied by broad impunity and little to no accountability.

I welcome the 2015 Doha Declaration’s reaffirmation of the commitment and strong political will of States to effective, fair, humane and accountable criminal justice systems. The recognition of the responsibility of States to uphold human rights - including for vulnerable members of society who may be subject to multiple and aggravated forms of discrimination - is an important step forward.

The Doha Declaration further commits States to intensify national and international efforts to eliminate all forms of discrimination, including racism. The Kyoto Declaration in 2021 reaffirmed the commitment to “ensure equal access to justice and application of the law to all regardless of their status, including by taking appropriate measures to ensure treatment with respect and without discrimination or bias of any kind by criminal justice institutions.”

States have a responsibility to uphold these commitments.

Some States have undertaken welcome steps to address racism and racial discrimination in the criminal justice system. But further comprehensive efforts are needed to achieve racial justice and equality for all.

Excellencies,

As we know, the brutal murder of George Floyd in 2020 prompted global outrage, sparking a wave of protests and increasing attention to the issue of systemic racism against people of African descent both within and outside the criminal justice system.

In June last year, I presented a report to the Human Rights Council focusing on systemic racism and international human rights law violations by law enforcement agencies against Africans and people of African descent. Beyond criminal justice, the report also highlighted a litany of violations of economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights suffered by people of African descent on a daily basis around the world, rooted in histories and legacies of enslavement, the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans, and colonialism.

My Agenda towards Transformative Change for racial justice and equality – outlined in the report – sets out 20 actionable recommendations that provide a roadmap for making real progress.

It is rooted in the obligations of States under international human rights treaties and their political commitments.

It is also rooted in the lived experiences of people of African descent. Behind the data and the reports are the faces and daily lives of people and families.

People and families suffer discrimination, marginalization and exclusion in many States. Their experiences are shaped by historical legacies, compounded by cycles of structural inequalities that have lasted generations.

Nowhere is this discrimination more visible than in law enforcement and the criminal justice system. We see an alarming picture of system-wide, disproportionate impacts on people of African descent in some countries. We see excessive numbers of Africans and people of African descent in prison populations. We see Blackness being associated with criminality and delinquency.

This is both dehumanising and deeply destructive. And this blatant discrimination is only compounded by other factors such as socio-economic, work or migration status, sex, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity, religion and psychosocial disabilities.

Lack of accountability for law enforcement officers is also an enormous obstacle. Investigations are deficient. Oversight, complaint and accountability mechanisms lack independence. There is widespread ‘presumption of guilt’ against people of African descent. With rare exceptions, investigations, prosecutions, trials and judicial decisions fail to consider the role that racial discrimination, stereotypes and institutional bias may have played.

Additionally, families of those who died after an encounter with law enforcement officials have expressed a profound lack of trust in the criminal justice system, highlighting the lack of support they faced during accountability processes.

We cannot sit by and continue to watch history repeat itself.

I urge States to reimagine and reform their policing and criminal justice systems, placing human rights at the centre of these efforts. People of African descent and other communities must be included in these discussions.

New models of justice need to protect and serve everybody, without discrimination.

Such new models must play a crucial role in ending impunity, strengthening public trust and fostering strong relationships between law enforcement and all the communities they serve. They should tackle the discriminatory application of criminal law.

I call on States to reform their drug-related policies, laws and practices in line with international human rights standards.

I also urge States to implement reforms to restrict use of force and prohibit racial profiling. Law enforcement officials who commit violations against Africans and people of African descent and other racial and ethnic groups must be brought to justice. And victims and their families must be provided redress.

Excellencies,

Racial discrimination in law enforcement and the criminal justice system cannot be separated from systemic racism. Only by addressing both – and the legacies they are built on – can we succeed in eliminating it.

The UN human rights system – including the new international independent expert mechanism – will continue its commitment to support States and others to achieve racial justice in the criminal justice system.

This is a priority – and responsibility - for all of us here today.

Let’s all commit to ensuring it happens.

Thank you.

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