Guidance and support
Clear articles that explain common criminal justice processes, rights, responsibilities and next steps.
About Criminal Justice Hub
Criminal Justice Hub is a volunteer led project making criminal justice information clearer, more practical and easier to use.
Criminal Justice Hub helps people understand and navigate the criminal justice system in England and Wales.
We bring together plain English guidance, practical tools, directories, data and public information so that people can find what they need without having to understand how the system is organised behind the scenes.
Criminal justice can be complex, stressful and difficult to navigate. Our aim is to make reliable information easier to find, easier to understand and easier to use.
What we do
We create and maintain information and tools for people affected by the criminal justice system, their families, practitioners, researchers, volunteers and the wider public.
Tools and directories
Interactive tools, searchable directories, calculators and maps that help people find practical information quickly.
Open information
Structured public information from official reports, datasets and trusted sources, presented in a more usable way.
Why we exist
People often come to criminal justice information at difficult moments. They may be scared, under pressure, supporting somebody else, preparing for court, trying to understand prison, or working with limited time.
Good information cannot fix every problem, but it can reduce confusion, help people ask better questions, and make the system easier to approach.
How we work
We use content design, user research, accessibility standards and public data to improve the website over time. We review feedback, look at content insight data, test pages and tools, and update information when the law, policy or public services change.
We design around user needs
We try to organise content around what people need to do or understand, rather than around internal structures, departments or professional language.
We write in plain English
We avoid unnecessary jargon, explain technical terms and structure pages so people can scan them quickly.
We improve through research and feedback
We use feedback, user research and content performance data to improve pages and tools where there is evidence of need.
We care about accessibility
We aim to make the website usable for disabled people and people with different access needs. Accessibility is considered in design, content, code and documents.
Who runs Criminal Justice Hub
Criminal Justice Hub is run by a small team of dedicated volunteers. Read about volunteer roles and how to apply.
We believe in the power of people, not money. The project exists because people give their time, skill and care to make criminal justice information better for everyone.
Criminal Justice Hub is a project of Conviction (opens in a new tab).
What you can find on this website
- Guidance about the criminal justice system
- Tools and resources
- Information about prisons in England and Wales
- Our relationship with Conviction
- Information about volunteering with us
- News and updates
- Our accessibility statement
- Our privacy policy
Volunteer with us
We advertise volunteer roles through Reach Volunteering. We do not accept applications or expressions of interest by email or social media because Reach helps us properly track, review and vet applications.
See our roles on Reach Volunteering (opens in a new tab)
Contact and feedback
We welcome feedback about the website, especially where content is unclear, inaccessible, out of date or missing something important.
Other websites with similar names
Criminal Justice Hub at criminaljusticehub.org.uk is a project of Conviction. We are not associated with CJS Hub at cjshub.org.uk and have no relationship with that website or its operator.
About this information
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