Professor Imran Rasul to lead new justice research project

The IFS is launching a new research project, led by CPP Director Imran Rasul and funded by the Nuffield Foundation, on the justice system in England and Wales. To-date there has been limited systematic economic and quantitative analyses of changes of access to justice, people's pathways through the justice system, and wider effects on well-being for those experiencing the justice system. This project will address these knowledge gaps with research projects drawing primarily upon the administrative datasets curated through the Ministry of Justice's 'Data First' programme, funded by ADR-UK. The project will range across many of the system's jurisdictions including administrative, civil, family and criminal. 

The project will be led by CPP Director and IFS Research Director, Imran Rasul, Nuffield Professor of Economics and IFS Research Fellow, Abi Adams-Prassl and Professor of Public Law at University of York, Joe Tomlinson. They will be joined by a range of researchers from IFS, UCL, LSE and Tor Vergata University of Rome. 

Marking the launch of the project, Imran Rasul said: "The justice system governs many economic relationships, and a well-functioning justice system is vital to ensure an inclusive, fair and prosperous society. There have been dramatic changes in the justice system over the last fifteen years. This research agenda brings quantitative economic analysis to bear on these issues, to provide greater understanding of what these changes have meant in terms of whether access to justice and pathways through the justice system, remain open and fair to all. Using newly available data from across parts of the justice system, we will seek to understand how reforms within the justice system and changes in other areas of social policy have impacted experiences of the justice system, economic relationships and prosperity."

Find out more about the project here.