In Other News

Legislation introducing restorative justice for victims of adult offenders announced

UPDATE - Amendments tabled to add 'meeting the needs of victims' to the aim of restorative justice and to allow Courts defer for restorative justice in order to give practitioners time to find out if all parties consent. See Hansard column 1440 -1443

------------------------------------------------------------------

New legislation for restorative justice with adult offenders and their victims has be introduced through an amendment to the Crime and Courts Bill.

The new clauses will allow the Courts to defer at the pre-sentence stage in order for the victim and offender to be offered restorative justice at the earliest opportunity. This comes as part of the Government’s response to the Punishment and Reform; effective community sentences consultation, published today.

This is the biggest development for restorative justice in England and Wales since legislation introducing referral order panels to the youth justice system in 1999.

Support for the amendment

Announcing the new legislative provisions, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: "For far too long, the Criminal Justice System has been centred on the offender - victims often feel they don't have a voice”.

"Restorative Justice gives victims the chance to confront criminals face to face with the very real consequences of their crimes”.

"This isn't a soft option. This is about more rights for victims. And it has been proven to reduce reoffending too.”

"I have been an advocate of restorative justice for a long time - ever since I saw the pioneering work being done by Liberal Democrats in Somerset and Sheffield to stop the young offenders of today becoming the hardened criminals of tomorrow."

Speaking in the debate in the House of Lords as the amendment was introduced Lord Woolf (former Lord Chief Justice) said: "My Lords, I hope that I can start by referring to the amendments before us in the most enthusiastic terms of which I am capable. I congratulate the Minister because I know that he played a significant role in ensuring that these amendments include the valuable provisions with regard to restorative justice."

Baroness Linklater said: "The proposal that [restorative justice] should be readily available to the courts, victims and offenders is an enormously important move. It represents the embodiment of the same principles of effective justice that I have already discussed—namely awareness, knowledge, understanding and meaningful engagement with the participants, particularly victims. I have supported these principles and the work of the Restorative Justice Council for years."

Campaigning for legislation

The Restorative Justice Council, with our partner organisations including the Prison Reform Trust and the Criminal Justice Alliance, has campaigned for legislation for over two years. Restorative justice at the pre-sentence stage formed half the cases in the Ministry of Justice/Shapland research. In addition to the well known findings in relation to victim benefits and reductions in re-offending, the research showed 72% of victims said that RJ came at ‘about the right time’, whilst 22% said they wished it had been offered to them sooner. The judiciary welcomed pre-sentence restorative justice as it provided them with additional information on which to base sentencing decisions.

A letter to The Times in April 2011 signed by 30 VIPs called for new legislation for pre-sentence restorative justice; hundreds of professionals and members of the public have also signed our online petition. Many RJC members joined the RJC in supporting the call for legislation through responding to the recent consultation. We are particularly grateful to members of the House of Lords who tirelessly put the case for legislation during debates on the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill.

Implementation and further work

The RJC will work closely with the Ministry of Justice, the Magistrates Association and the Sentencing Council to ensure the legislation is implemented and that the judiciary receive guidance about which cases should be deferred for RJ to be offered (primarily cases with a personal victim and  the offender has pleaded guilty); and how to factor participation in RJ in at point of sentence, based on the precedents already set in case law and international experience.

The RJC will seek to ensure, through our work with the Ministry of Justice co-chairing the national restorative justice steering group, that once offered restorative justice at the earliest opportunity through this legislation, victims are able to opt-in at a time that is right for them.

Find out more

 

Support restorative justice and the RJC - Join Us

 

 

23rd Oct 2012 | Legislation, Political Parties, Sentencing