Discuss the impact the Stephen Lawrence inquiry has had on the Criminal Justice System? This essay will screen through the changes made in major areas of Criminal Justice System after the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report published and attempts to address changes that have already implemented, the supposed and actual outcomes, and effectiveness of these changes in tackling institutional racism mainly based on qualitative academic debates. The murder of Stephen Lawrence, a black British teenager, in a racist attack in 1993, resulted in a detailed inquiry published in 1999 outlining the existence of institutional racism and as many as 70 recommended changes in policies regarding how police should communicate with ethnic minority …show more content…

This can be seen as a weakness in Macpherson report as such issue still exists after related recommendations have been implemented (House of Commons Home Affair Committee, 2009). Another area addressed in policing is the significant underrepresentation of police officers with self-claimed minority ethnic identity. Macpherson examined this issue with particular focus on employment practices of police force. Although Black Police Associations have existed well before the inquiry report published, it has been viewed as “fragile” (Holdaway and O’Neill, 2006), and Macpherson report have actually overseen this as a tool for promoting recruitment of minority ethnic police officers, particularly black. The result is that police force still faces difficulties in recruiting ethnic minority police officers thus unable to achieve their set targets (House of Commons Home Affair Committee 2009, Foster et al 2005). New recruit training scheme has since been launched, however it is the organizational culture, dominated by racism, that creates the ‘glass ceiling’ of ethnic minority and women police officers which fears such potential applicants off regardless of what the police force attempt to promote in recruitment advertisement (Fielding, 1999). Legislation and Adjudication is not a focus area in Macpherson report. Macpherson (1999) only suggested current sentencing practices to remain in place, and the abolishment of