Lay Observers are independent, unpaid public appointees and work an average of 2-3 days per month. Their role is to provide independent oversight of how people detained in court cells and cellular vehicles are cared for and their access to justice.
Read more about usAbout us
Lay Observers play an important role in the justice system by monitoring the welfare and access to justice of people being brought to court and held in court custody. They are appointed by the Secretary of State under the Criminal Justice Act 1991 (CJA 1991) to provide independent oversight of how people detained in court cells and cellular vehicles are cared for and their access to justice.
Learn more >Latest news
-
Lack of services in court on certain days could risk people being remanded unnecessarily
Lay Observers (LOs) have raised a number of concerns in their newly published annual report, the most serious being that courts on Saturday’s or Bank Holidays are sometimes having to make remand decisions without important information, which should be provided by support services. Covid-19 restrictions made in-person visits by LOs impossible at times, but they … Read more >
-
Extension to Chair of the Lay Observers’ National Council term
The Secretary of State has announced a 1 year extension to John Thornhill OBE’s tenure as Chair of the Lay Observers’ National Council. More information can be found here: Extension to Chair of the Lay Observers’ National Council term – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
-
UK National Preventive Mechanism’s response to the Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture’s report on its visit to the UK
Today the NPM have published the United Nations Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture (SPT)’s report to the UK NPM following its visit to the UK in September 2019, and have also published the UK NPM’s official response to the SPT report. The NPM hope it stands as a valuable representation of how the they … Read more >