Report of the Public Lecture
The 42nd Public Lecture on Criminal Justice Policy was held on 26 January 2024. UNAFEI, the Japan Criminal Policy Society Foundation (JCPS) and the Asia Crime Prevention Foundation (ACPF) have hosted this annual event since 1982.
The event was held in a hybrid format (in-person and online) so that many participants from both Japan and overseas could participate. As a result, we had 80 in-person participants and 112 online participants, which shows that the lecture topic was of great interest of the public.
Lectures
We invited lecturers from the Confederation of European Probation (CEP) and His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons.
Lecture 1
“Strengthening offender rehabilitation and reintegration through evidence-based practice and capacity building”
Mr. Steve Pitts
Ambassador, CEP
Lecture slides are available
here
Lecture 2
“Youth justice in England and Wales”
Mr. Charlie Taylor
His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons
Lecture slides are available here
Overview of the Lectures
Mr. Pitts discussed strengthening offender rehabilitation and reintegration through international cooperation, focusing on evidence-based practice and capacity building from European experience. He also introduced “what works” and “who works” in building capacity. He suggested there is no best model but identified 10 success factors such as a collaborative, partnership approach, creating and communicating a shared vision, and identifying and mitigating resistance and risks (e.g., net-widening).
Mr. Taylor introduced an overview of youth justice in England and Wales, including 2016 review of the youth justice system, which he led. He also explained a situation of children in custody in England and Wales and how his team inspect prisons and youth custody. He suggested reducing violence, improving purposeful activities and staff-children relationship would contribute to positive outcome for children in custody.
Both lectures covered important themes in establishing a just, peaceful and inclusive society as envisioned by Goal 16 of the SDGs. We hope this event provided all participants with useful knowledge for moving forward in their respective fields.
Director of UNAFEI
Chairperson of JCPS
Vice-Chairperson and Secretary
General of ACPF
