Prisons, proportionality and recent penal history

Journal article

It is well known that the prison population of England and Wales increased steeply between 1993 and 2012. Indeed, a research paper from the Ministry of Justice refers to the prison population as ‘almost doubling’ during this period, from 44,246 on 30 June 1993 to 86,048 on 30 June 2012. Since 2012 the total numbers in prison appear to have stabilised at this relatively high level (85,134 on 30 June 2016). The steepest increases occurred during the 1990s, and this prompts the question of causes. What changes in policy or practice brought about this rapid rise in the proportion of offenders sentenced to custody (from 16 per cent of offenders sentenced in 1993 to 28 per cent in 2002), and then a substantial increase in the average length of custodial sentences imposed (from an average length of 14.3 months in 2000 to 18.8 months in 2015)?

Authors: Ashworth, A

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Wiley
• Journal: Modern Law Review
• Volume: 80
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 473–488
• Publication date: 2017-04-27
• Acceptance date: 2017-01-12
• DOI: 10.1111/1468-2230.12266