Young adults in court: shrinking numbers and increasing disparities

4 October 2022

Young adults in court: shrinking numbers and increasing disparities

Courts and sentencing, Inequalities, Prosecution, Race and ethnicity, Sentencing

Open report

This report explores the decline of the rate of court appearances among young adults (aged 18–24), which has dropped by 76% over recent years, from 32.2 court appearances per thousand young adults in 2007–08 to 7.8 per thousand in 2018–19. It also examines the disadvantage faced by young adults of minority ethnic origin in relation to the use of court procedures.

Publisher: The University of Sheffield
Authors: Nathan Hughes, Todd Hartman

prison, young adults

Raise the Bars: Co-producing practice guidance with Romany Gypsy and Irish Traveller people

This Friends, Families and Travellers report summarises focus groups with 57 Romany, Gypsy and Irish Traveller young adults across 20 prisons, with recommendations for reform based on their experiences.

Criminal Justice, young adults

Behind the decline

This Centre for Crime and Justice Studies report looks at the shrinking young adult population within the criminal justice system who are experiencing increasingly harsher treatment.

May 2026