The Centre for Justice Policy researches why Britain's justice system fails, and what would fix it. We start with evidence most people can't get to. Court transcripts cost hundreds of pounds a hearing, victims struggle to obtain their own records, and reform is argued over with very little hard information behind it. Through our Open Justice UK project we were the first organisation to privately obtain and publish court transcripts en masse, and the first to publish a full trial transcript in UK legal history.
From there we look at causes. We are mapping the patterns across the grooming gang scandal, examining what Britain can learn from justice systems that work better than ours, and tracing the roots of our biggest crime and justice failures: demographic change, frontline services stretched past the point of function, institutions that cannot or will not act. We test our conclusions against what the public actually thinks, and take them into Parliament where sentencing law needs to change.
The Centre for Justice Policy is an independent research organisation based in London.
About us.
Adam Wren
Adam Wren is Director of The Centre for Justice Policy. He grew up in North Manchester and studied at King's College London before working for the National Crime Agency and later as a senior researcher for an American defence contractor, focusing on defence technology and supply chains. He launched Open Justice UK after crowdfunding to acquire court transcripts from grooming gang trials, and has since led the organisation's research, legal engagement, and media work.
adam@centreforjusticepolicy.org
Melisa Tourt
Melisa Tourt is Head of External Affairs & Policy at the Centre for Justice Policy. She was previously Communications Manager at the Centre for Policy Studies, and before that specialised in public affairs for major NGOs and non-profits, running national campaigns on civil liberties and freedom of expression, including work that shaped Private Members' Bills. She began her career as a researcher for a Member of Parliament.
melisa@centreforjusticepolicy.org
Fiona Goddard
Fiona Goddard is a survivor of organised grooming gang abuse and one of the few victims to have waived her anonymity. A prominent campaigner, she is the Centre for Justice Policy's grooming gang advisory lead, speaking from both a survivor and a campaigner perspective. The court transcript of Fiona's trial was the first ever to be released publicly in full. She fronted a three-part series with Open Justice UK telling her story from the beginning, including the collapse of the first trial and the institutional failures that allowed the abuse to continue for decades. She appears regularly in the media to help the public understand how grooming gangs operate, and meets with parliamentarians to do the same.
If you have a media enquiry for Fiona, please contact melisa@centreforjusticepolicy.org
