Inaccessible Justice: Exploring the Barriers to Justice and Fairness for Disabled People Accused of a Crime

• Published in: Howard journal of crime and justice 2021-12, Vol.60 (4), p.493-510
• Main Authors: GORMLEY, CAITLIN, WATSON, NICK
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Access; Barriers; Brain injured people; Crime; Criminal justice; Criminology; Disability; Disability studies; Equality; justice accessibility; Learning disabilities; learning disability; Learning disabled people; Low income groups; Mental health; Neurodiversity; People with disabilities; Perceptions; Pretrial; vulnerability
• ISSN: 2059-1098; 2059-1101
• DOI: 10.1111/hojo.12433

Drawing on in‐depth qualitative interviews with 15 people who have learning disabilities, brain injuries, neurodiversity, or mental health conditions accused of a crime in Scotland, this article offers substantive and methodological insights to unpacking perceptions of justice accessibility. We explore barriers to participation in pretrial justice processes for disabled accused people, demonstrating that disabled people are systematically denied a voice and disadvantaged by poor identification and recognition of impairment, insufficient supports or adjustments, and inaccessible information. We discuss participants’ accounts of feeling excluded from, and intimidated by, systems and decisions that are not routinely explained in accessible terms, which, in turn, adversely impacts access to justice and perceptions of fairness. Informed by criminology and disability studies, we argue that the failure of criminal justice systems and practices to acknowledge disability as an equality issue creates disabling barriers that serve to further marginalise disabled people within justice settings.