Justice Committee publishes report on restorative justice

Practical Law Legal Update w-003-3011 (Approx. 3 pages)

Justice Committee publishes report on restorative justice

by Practical Law Business Crime and Investigations

The Justice Committee has published a report on restorative justice. The report recommends that the Ministry of Justice should seek views on a legislative right to restorative justice and how it should be enforced.

The Ministry of Justice defines restorative justice as the process of bringing together people harmed by a crime with those responsible for the harm in order to seek a positive way forward. It seeks to hold offenders to account for what they have done, understand the real impact, take responsibility and make amends. For more information see Ministry of Justice: Restorative justice.

The report considers the effectiveness of restorative justice provision across the criminal justice system, examining the evidence for the effectiveness of restorative justice.

The report made the following conclusions:

That restorative justice provision is currently subject to a "postcode lottery" and regional buy-in.
Restorative justice is well embedded in the youth justice system, although there is further work to be done, particularly in improving victim engagement.
Problems in data sharing have presented an obstacle to the development of restorative justice. The report recommends the creation and dissemination of a national data sharing template.
There is evidence of mixed compliance with the requirement under the Victims' Code to make victims aware of restorative justice. The report recommends the introduction of a system to improve compliance.
The entitlements under the Victims' Code should be rationalised so they no longer vary based on the age of the offender.
The Ministry should consult with Police and Crime Commissioners and Stakeholders to ensure there is sufficient capacity to feasibly introduce an entitlement to restorative justice under the Victims' Code.
It is too soon to introduce a legislative right to access restorative justice services but such a goal is laudable and should be actively worked towards. That provision should only be commenced once the Minister has demonstrated to Parliament that the system has sufficient capacity.

The report concluded that while undue reliance should not be placed on the statistic that £8 is saved for every £1 spent on restorative justice, there are benefits in both reductions in reoffending and providing tangible benefits to victims.

Source: Justice Select Committee: Restorative Justice, 1 September 2016.

End of Document

Also Found In

Sentencing and Orders on Conviction

Resource ID w-003-3011

Published on 01-Sep-2016

Resource Type Legal update: case report

Jurisdictions

England
Wales