Concluding remarks

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter focuses on positive and negative developments in recent years. It welcomes the decline in the prison population and the increased focus on disproportionality. It also discusses those developments which can be viewed as negatives ones, particularly the continuing high imprisonment rate and the continued use of methods of restraining children and young people in custody. It focusses on the impact of Covid-19 on the courts, the prison population and the use of FPNs before discussing the arguments for abolition of the use of imprisonment or its reform. We then refer to the discourse of human rights—both its importance and the attacks on it, before referring to the re-emergence of problem-solving courts. Lastly the authors’ concerns as to ‘what needs to be done’ are considered.