Overcoming Barriers in the Criminal Justice System: Examining the Value and Challenges of Interviewing Legal Practitioners

Minimum sentencing for murder in England and Wales: A critical examination 10 years after the Criminal Justice Act 2003

“…The resulting interview data provide valuable insight into the impact of this legislation in practice and the views of those charged with its implementation. The value of using interviews with legal practitioners to gain insight into the operation of the law is well recognised throughout legal scholarship (Davis, 2005; Fitz-Gibbon, 2014b; Nelken 2010; Partington, 2005). However, such recognition has often been accompanied by an acknowledgement of the difficulties that researchers face in gaining access to those working within the criminal justice system, in particular, members of the judiciary (Ashworth, 1995; Baldwin, 2008; Mackenzie, 2005).…”

Protections for children before the law: An empirical analysis of the age of criminal responsibility, the abolition of doli incapax and the merits of a developmental immaturity defence in England and Wales

“…The interview recordings were transcribed and the resulting interview data uploaded into the qualitative software Nvivo for thematic analysis. The value of using in-depth interviews with legal practitioners to inform criminological research and provide an understanding of the law in practice is well acknowledged (Fitz-Gibbon, 2014; McBarnet, 2009; Partington, 2005; Ward and Wasby, 2010). Such interviews allow a researcher to gain an understanding of the law in action and to examine the gaps between the law as it is presented in legislation and as it is applied in the courtroom (Fitz-Gibbon, 2014).…”

“…The value of using in-depth interviews with legal practitioners to inform criminological research and provide an understanding of the law in practice is well acknowledged (Fitz-Gibbon, 2014; McBarnet, 2009; Partington, 2005; Ward and Wasby, 2010). Such interviews allow a researcher to gain an understanding of the law in action and to examine the gaps between the law as it is presented in legislation and as it is applied in the courtroom (Fitz-Gibbon, 2014). Specific to this research, given the relative rarity of child perpetrated homicides, drawing directly on the experiences of practitioners involved in such cases allowed the research to gather specialist knowledge on the effectiveness of legal responses and protections in this area.…”