Justice and legal affairs
London Economics are experts in the economics of the justice and legal affairs, covering the legal system, penal policy and criminal justice strategy, from crime, policing through to the courts, prisons and probation, including rehabilitation programmes, as well of offering substantive economic analysis of legal issues.
Our Justice and Legal Affairs team’s highly-qualified economic consultants are committed to understanding your issue to deliver methodologically robust and independent analysis, with a focus on data security and confidentiality. We offer a wide variety of techniques and applications:
- Policy appraisal
- Quantitative policy evaluation
- Legislation reviews and mapping
- Theory application
- Commercial applications such as supporting competitive bids
- Understanding of CJS market issues, including probation commissioning and alternative business structures in the solicitor and barrister markets.
Our significant experience in the justice sector allows us to support a wide variety of policymakers and operational bodies, leading to an evidence-based approach to policy formation. Our clients include:
- EC DG Internal Markets
- EC DG Justice,
- Freedom and Security,
- UK Ministry of Justice,
- GEO UK ltd
- Other European justice ministries,
- UK National Offender Management Service,
Examples of recent research undertaken include a comprehensive review of consumer bankruptcy law across the EU, the theoretical and empirical literature on the economics of crime; evaluations of prison-based interventions; the economics of prisons; confidential impact assessments of legal reforms; analysis of the UK Home Office police funding distribution formula; and efficiency analysis.
Our staff hold security clearances at various levels to meet your requirements.
Recent projects
- ‘Study on means to protect consumers in financial difficulty: Personal bankruptcy, datio in solutum of mortgages, and restrictions on debt collection abusive practices’ for EC DG Internal Markets available here
- ‘The Value of Illegal Waste’ for the Environment Agency
- ‘Cost of Non-Europe in private international law’ for the European Parliament
- Econometrics training and support for the UK Ministry of Justice
- Delivering pricing for a commercial bid by the GEO Group UK to the Home Office on the Heathrow Immigration Removal Centres
- Delivering an audit of debt advice supply for the Money Advice Service
- Delivering pricing for a commercial bid by the GEO Group UK to the Ministry of Justice for Electronic Monitoring
Head of the team
Our Justice and Legal Affairs team is led by Richard Heys, who is an Associate Director at London Economics. Richard has extensive experience of delivering public policy economics. He is a recognised expert in the economics of the criminal justice system and spent five years at the UK Ministry of Justice during which he led the impact assessment on New Prisons following the Carter Report (2009), the analysis of prison, probation and other offender services competition, analysis around the closure of five prisons and 140 courts, the financial modelling for the Spending Review 2010 negotiations, and the appraisal of fees in courts and tribunals. More recently Richard has led on GEO UK’s bids for the Heathrow Estate and Electronic Monitoring, mapping the economics of Illegal Waste, and the consumer bankruptcy review ‘Study on means to protect consumers in financial difficulty: Personal bankruptcy, datio in solutum of mortgages, and restrictions on debt collection abusive practices’.
Richard specialises in microeconomics, policy development support, policy evaluation and appraisal. He holds a M.Sc. in Economics from University College London and a B.A.(Hons.) in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Balliol College, the University of Oxford, and was a founder member of the Academy of Justice Commissioning.
Contact details
Richard Heys
T: 44 (0)207 866 8174
