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08 March 2024 / Dr Jon Robins
Issue: 8062 / Categories: Features , Criminal , Legal aid focus
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IPP & joint enterprise: left to languish?

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Jon Robins on why we need more politicians willing to support unfashionable causes

How speedily ministers can act when the world watches on and an election looms. At the time of going to print, parliamentary draftsmen are bashing out unprecedented legislation for the mass exoneration of hundreds of subpostmasters. They have been shamed out of years of inaction by ITV’s brilliant drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, broadcast early this year.

But how long does it take for politicians to address an injustice in normal circumstances—that is, in the face of political indifference, media disengagement and public complacency? There are thousands of people in prison who insist they shouldn’t be there. They are in prison as a result of two controversial (and very different) features of our justice system, both long identified as scandals: imprisonment for public protection (IPP) and joint enterprise.

The fight for reform is powered by two extraordinary campaigns by prisoners’ families: JENGbA (Joint Enterprise Not Guilty by Association)

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