The Howard League for Penal Reform is a
registered charity
A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good).
The legal definition of a ch ...
in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. It is the oldest
penal reform
Prison reform is the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons, improve the effectiveness of a penal system, or implement alternatives to incarceration. It also focuses on ensuring the reinstatement of those whose lives are impacted by crimes. ...
organisation in the world, named after
John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...
. It was founded as the Howard Association in 1866 and changed its name in 1921, following a merger with the Penal Reform League. The charity focuses on penal reform in England and Wales.
The Howard League is independent of the United Kingdom government and is funded by voluntary donations and membership donations. The charity also receives funding from the
Legal Services Commission
The Legal Services Commission (LSC) was an executive non-departmental public body of the Ministry of Justice which was responsible for the operational administration of legal aid in England and Wales between 2000 and 2013.
Overview
The LSC was re ...
, as it holds Legal Aid contracts in order to perform its work with young people in custody.
The Howard League Centre for Penal Reform, the charity's headquarters since 2000, was officially opened by
Betty Boothroyd
Betty Boothroyd, Baroness Boothroyd (born 8 October 1929) is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for West Bromwich and West Bromwich West from 1973 to 2000. From 1992 to 2000, she served as Speaker of the House of ...
in November 2001. The Centre is located in north London.
History
In 1921, the Howard Association merged with the
Penal Reform League to become the Howard League for Penal Reform. The Penal Reform League had been founded in 1907 with Arthur St John as Secretary. The new organisation was led by
Margery Fry
__NOTOC__
Margery is a heavily buffered, lightly populated hamlet in the Reigate and Banstead district, in the English county of Surrey. It sits on the North Downs, is bordered by the London Orbital Motorway, at a lower altitude, and its predom ...
, who had been Secretary of the Penal Reform League since 1918. Fry was succeeded by
Cicely Craven as honorary secretary of the Howard League in 1926.
The Howard League played a key role in campaigning for the abolition of
capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
; advocated for the founding of the
National Probation Service
The Probation Service (formerly the National Probation Service) for England and Wales is a statutory criminal justice service, mainly responsible for the supervision of offenders in the community and the provision of reports to the criminal cour ...
; and co-founded the
Prisoners' Advice Service. The charity also successfully campaigned for the introduction of the victims' compensation scheme.
Historically-related organisations operate in a number of other commonwealth countries including the
John Howard Society of Canada
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
and the
New Zealand Howard League
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
of which the
Howard League for Penal Reform Canterbury
The Howard League for Penal Reform Canterbury is an organisation based in Christchurch, New Zealand, that lobbies for prison reform and works in Canterbury prisons. It is based on the British Howard League for Penal Reform.
History and purpose
...
is a part.
In October 2021, Andrea Coomber, previously director of
JUSTICE
Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...
, succeeded Frances Crook as Chief Executive of the Howard League.
Child arrests
The Howard League campaigns for a reduction in the number of arrests of children in England and Wales.
Data published by the charity in 2016 showed that the number of arrests of children had fallen by 59 per cent in six years (from 245,763 in 2010 to 101,926 in 2015). The Howard League's Chief Executive, Frances Crook, said that the fall could be attributed to better use of resources, removing national targets, improving staff training, and support from communities.
Books For Prisoners
The Howard League's Books For Prisoners campaign was set up in 2014 to overturn restrictions on sending books to people in prisons in England and Wales.
The campaign was supported by another charity,
English PEN
Founded in 1921, English PEN is one of the world's first non-governmental organisations and among the first international bodies advocating for human rights. English PEN was the founding centre of PEN International, a worldwide writers' associati ...
, and writers including
Carol Ann Duffy
Dame Carol Ann Duffy (born 23 December 1955) is a Scottish poet and playwright. She is a professor of contemporary poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was appointed Poet Laureate in May 2009, resigning in 2019. She was the first ...
, the
Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
The British Poet Laureate is an honorary position appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom, currently on the advice of the prime minister. The role does not entail any specific duties, but there is an expectation that the holder will writ ...
;
Mark Haddon
Mark Haddon (born 28 October 1962) is an English novelist, best known for '' The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'' (2003). He won the Whitbread Award, the Dolly Gray Children's Literature Award, Guardian Prize, and a Commonwealth W ...
;
Sarah Waters
Sarah Ann Waters (born 21 July 1966) is a Welsh novelist. She is best known for her novels set in Victorian society and featuring lesbian protagonists, such as '' Tipping the Velvet'' and '' Fingersmith''.
Life and education
Early life
Sa ...
;
David Hare;
A. L. Kennedy;
Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. Over his distinguished entertainment career he has received numerous awards and honours including two BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and tw ...
;
Salman Rushdie
Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Wes ...
;
Joanne Harris
Joanne Michèle Sylvie Harris (born 3 July 1964) is an English-French author, best known for her novel '' Chocolat'' (1999), which was adapted the following year for the film '' Chocolat''.
Early life
Harris was born in Barnsley, Yorkshire, t ...
;
Ian Rankin
Sir Ian James Rankin (born 28 April 1960) is a Scottish crime writer, best known for his Inspector Rebus novels.
Early life
Rankin was born in Cardenden, Fife. His father, James, owned a grocery shop, and his mother, Isobel, worked in a schoo ...
;
Irvine Welsh
Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958) is a Scottish novelist, playwright and short story writer. His 1993 novel '' Trainspotting'' was made into a film of the same name. He has also written plays and screenplays, and directed several short fil ...
;
Nick Hornby
Nicholas Peter John Hornby (born 17 April 1957) is an English writer and lyricist. He is best known for his memoir ''Fever Pitch'' and novels '' High Fidelity'' and '' About a Boy'', all of which were adapted into feature films. Hornby's work f ...
;
Ruth Padel
Ruth Sophia Padel FRSL FZS is a British poet, novelist and non-fiction author, known for her poetic explorations of migration, both animal and human, and her involvement with classical music, wildlife conservation and Greece, ancient and modern. ...
and
Philip Pullman
Sir Philip Nicholas Outram Pullman (born 19 October 1946) is an English writer. His books include the fantasy trilogy ''His Dark Materials'' and ''The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ'', a fictionalised biography of Jesus. In 2008, ''The ...
.
The campaign was successful. In December 2014, High Court judge Mr Justice Collins ruled that there was "no good reason" to restrict access to books for prisoners.
Criminal Courts Charge
The Howard League campaigned against the criminal courts charge, which required defendants who were convicted of a crime to pay fees ranging from £150 to £1,200 towards the cost of their case.
When the charge was suspended by the then Justice Secretary
Michael Gove in December 2015, Howard League Chief Executive Frances Crook called the decision a "victory for justice".
Legal work
The Howard League has a legal team that helps children and young people in the criminal justice system. It provides a free and confidential advice line for prisoners under the age of 21.
The legal team also brings cases and conducts participation work to help shape the law and empower children to use their rights.
Community Awards
The Howard League runs an annual Community Awards competition to recognise successful community projects that encourage desistance from crime.
Similar organisations
*
Howard League Scotland
Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also proba ...
*
Howard League for Penal Reform Canterbury
The Howard League for Penal Reform Canterbury is an organisation based in Christchurch, New Zealand, that lobbies for prison reform and works in Canterbury prisons. It is based on the British Howard League for Penal Reform.
History and purpose
...
See also
*
Addaction
We Are With You (formerly known as Addaction) is a British charity founded in 1967 that supports people to make positive behavioural changes, most notably with alcohol and drug misuse, and mental health. The charity works extensively throughout ...
*
Centre for Crime and Justice Studies
The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (CCJS) is a charity based in the United Kingdom focusing on crime and the criminal justice system.Gibson, Bryan (2009)''The Pocket A-Z of Criminal Justice'' Waterside Press. p. 198. It seeks to brin ...
*
Centre for Mental Health
The Centre for Mental Health is an independent UK mental health charity. It aims to inspire hope, opportunity and a fair chance in life for people of all ages with or at risk of mental ill health. The Centre acts as a bridge between the worlds o ...
*
Centre for Social Justice
The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) is an independent centre-right think tank based in the United Kingdom, co-founded in 2004 by Iain Duncan Smith, Tim Montgomerie, Mark Florman and Philippa Stroud.
Political positions
The organisation's stated ...
*
Nacro
Nacro is a social justice charity based in England and Wales, established in 1966 from the previous National Association of Discharged Prisoners’ Aid Societies, it became the largest criminal justice-related charity in England and Wales. In th ...
*
Prison Reform Trust
The Prison Reform Trust (PRT) was founded in 1981 in London, England, by a small group of prison reform campaigners who were unhappy with the direction in which the Howard League for Penal Reform was heading, concentrating more on community punish ...
*
Revolving Doors Agency
Revolving Doors is a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom which works across England and Wales. Through research, policy and campaigning work, the organisation aims to improve services for people with multiple needs who are in repeat co ...
*
Timeline of children's rights in the United Kingdom
A timeline is a display of a list of events in chronological order. It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labelled with dates paralleling it, and usually contemporaneous events.
Timelines can use any suitable scale representi ...
References
External links
Official websiteCatalogue of the Howard League archives held at the
Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick
The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collecti ...
{{Authority control
Organizations established in 1866
Penal system in the United Kingdom
Prison charities based in the United Kingdom
Prison reform
Charities based in London
1866 establishments in the United Kingdom
Reform in the United Kingdom