Courts, court users and the judicial process

ICPR has long-standing experience of conducting empirical courts-based research. Prior studies have examined sentence decision-making and public attitudes to sentencing; the quality of criminal advocacy; and what it is like to attend the criminal courts as a defendant, witness or victim. Current work includes research into what it means to 'participate' in criminal, family and tribunal proceedings; the values shaping deliberation in the Court of Protection; and the preparation of witness statements for the Employment Tribunal.

Current projects

Diverse Disabilities: Accessibility and Justice in the Tribunal

Lived experience of the law: A research and policy project

Public engagement with justice: Evidence review

Completed projects include:

Enhancing problem-solving practice in the Youth Court

Inside Crown Court

Joint Enterprise

Judging Values and Participation in Mental Capacity Law

Judicial perceptions of criminal advocacy

Language Barriers in the Criminal Justice System

Participation in Courts and Tribunals

Taking and Making a Statement: An exploratory study analysing through the lens of research the production of witness statements by lawyers and litigants in person (MAS)

The quality of legal advice and representation in the Youth Justice System

The Youth Proceedings Advocacy Review

Voicing loss: Meanings and implications of participation by bereaved people in inquests

Publications

Cooper, Penelope (2019) Vulnerable adults in the Court of Protection in Counsel Magazine, August 2019

Kong, Camillia and Coggon, J. and Dunn, M. and Cooper, Penelope (2019) Judging values and participation in mental capacity law. Laws 8 (1), p. 3. ISSN 2075-471X.

Jacobson, Jessica (2018) Balancing accessibility and authority: towards an integrated approach to vulnerability in the criminal courts. In: Cooper, Penelope and Hunting, L. (eds.) Access to Justice for Vulnerable People. London, UK: Wildy, Simmonds and Hill Publishing. ISBN 9780854902675. (In Press)

Cooper, Penelope and Dando, C.J. and Ormerod, T. and Mattison, M. and Marchant, R. and Milne, R. and Bull, R. (2018) One step forward and two steps back? The “20 Principles” for questioning vulnerable witnesses and the lack of an evidence-based approach. The International Journal of Evidence & Proof , ISSN 1365-7127.

Hunter, Gillian, Jacobson, Jessica and Kirby, Amy (2018) Judicial perceptions of the quality of criminal advocacy: report of research commissioned by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Bar Standards Board. Project Report. Solicitors Regulation Authority, London, UK.

Kirby, Amy (2017) Effectively engaging victims, witnesses and defendants in the criminal courts: a question of “court culture”? Criminal Law Review 12 , pp. 949-968. ISSN 0011-135X.