Sentencing reforms and other "sensible" changes proposed by the Ministry of Justice are under threat from Prime Minister David Cameron and his advisers.
For the third year running Her Majesty's Inspector of Prisons, Anne Owers, a former human rights campaigner, has hit the headlines with a hard-hitting report on Britain's dire prison situation, calling for action not political posturing.
Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has told a newspaper he thinks the British government should raise the age of criminal responsibility, acknowledging that very young people involved in crime still need to be recognised as children.