Autistic people are overrepresented in the Criminal Justice System (CJS) as victims/witnesses, and suspects/defendants – despite no evidence that they commit crimes at a higher rate than the general population.

Their experiences within the CJS are largely negative, with autistic people feeling that they do not receive adequate support to enable them to provide their best evidence, precluding their access to justice – including at court.

‘Special measures’ enable adaptations to how evidence is gathered and presented in criminal courts in England and Wales. In practice, however, the use of these measures has been reported to be inconsistent by legal professionals, and there is scant empirical evidence to date on their use with autistic individuals in court.

Project outline

This Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)-funded project will examine the impact of standard courtroom proceedings and the provision of special measures for autistic witnesses and defendants.

The project aims to address the following five research questions:

• What is the effect of standard courtroom proceedings (including cross-examination) on autistic witnesses’ and defendants’ experiences and access to justice?
• What impact do special measures have on their experiences and ability to provide their ‘best evidence’, and are further measures needed?
• What is the effect of special measures, the disclosure of a diagnosis, and juror instructions on how autistic individuals are perceived by jurors and judges?
• What are the barriers and enablers to the effective provision of special measures for autistic individuals?
• What are the implications for training for legal professionals, and how effective is such training in improving their professional capacity?

Join our project mailing list

If you would like to receive email updates about the project (including when we publish research findings and when we run and/or speak at events), you can sign up to join our mailing list.

Project team

This project is a collaboration between the University of Bath, the University of Birmingham and the University of Chester.

• Dr Katie Maras, Principal Investigator (University of Bath)
• Dr Ralph Bagnall, Postdoctoral Researcher (University of Bath)
• Professor Laura Crane, Co-Investigator (University of Birmingham)
• Dr Michelle Mattison, Expert Consultant (University of Chester)