Behavioural economics combines elements of economics and psychology to better understand how and why people behave the way they do in the real world. While behavioural economics originally sought to better understand economic decision-making, it has since grown in scope and application, and it is increasingly used by governments, government departments and other organisations to shape and implement public policies in a range of policy areas. This Review considers the application of behavioural economics theories and concepts (commonly referred to as behavioural insights) to the justice sector in a range of areas of justice policy in different jurisdictions. Areas of justice policy include improving immigration and integration policies, tackling domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, improving policing, community safety and penal policy, making court systems more efficient, accessible and fair, and addressing broader challenges and opportunities presented by innovation and climate change.

P.33 Behavioural economics has been applied in a wide range of policy areas globally. For example, a 2018 scoping review of the literature on the “choice architecture movement” revealed 422 tested interventions contained in 116 empirical articles in peer-reviewed journals. The domain of health was the most studied field (42%), followed by the domain of sustainability (19%), followed by consumer choice (10%). Other areas that the authors of the scoping review identified included prosocial behaviour (perhaps the category closest to justice policy), finance, transportation and education. To briefly offer some examples, nudges have been employed in areas such as quitting smoking, food  hoice, reducing alcohol consumption,104 overeating, organ donation,106 and switching to sustainable energy. It is worth noting, however, that the findings of this 2018 scoping review exclude grey literature including studies that are not published in peer-reviewed journals, which are relatively common and quite influential in the behavioural economics literature...