Eastern Arc webinar: Ministry of Justice areas of research interest (ARIs)

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has a significant and wide-ranging remit, and its work has implications for some of the most vulnerable people in society. These range from building and maintaining the prisons, youth and courts estate, to ensuring access to justice to meet people’s needs, through to supporting a flourishing legal services sector, and helping to ensure children’s needs are put first in legal decisions about their care.

In December 2020 the department published an updated ‘Areas of Research Interest’ publication setting out its strategic evidence priorities and needs for the next three to five years, aligned with the department’s strategic objectives for the system. MoJ is committed to enhancing the way data and evidence is used to shape policy and operational decisions and drive improvements in justice outcomes.

Its ambitious and pioneering data-linking programme, Data First, is one way it is demonstrating its commitments; representing the most substantial investment across Whitehall by Administrative Data Research UK (ADR UK). Data First is unlocking the potential of the wealth of our data by linking administrative datasets from across the justice system and beyond and enabling researchers to access the data in an ethical and responsible way.

The Eastern Arc universities can play a key part in addressing some of the evidence gaps identified through the ARI; the Consortium has identified ‘human rights, equality and conflict’ as one of its four areas of common strength.

This webinar is an opportunity for academics, researchers and other stakeholders at the EARC universities and beyond to hear from the new Evidence and Partnerships Hub in MoJ about the ARI and Data First. Including what the team hopes to achieve through the ARI publication and its engagement with the academic community.