House of Lords debate on restorative justice

On Wednesday 18 November, a debate took place in the House of Lords on restorative justice. The debate - which took place during International Restorative Justice Week - followed a question asked by Lord Blair of Boughton, the former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service. 

The debate covered the high quality of evidence supporting the use of restorative justice, the need to improve information sharing, the potential to reduce reoffending and examples of current high quality practice. Lord Faulks, Minister of State for the Ministry of Justice, stated that the government is “committed to continuing this [restorative justice] as a significant way of improving reoffending rates and providing victims with a reasonable involvement with the criminal justice system”.  

The RJC developed a targeted briefing for this debate, which was disseminated widely to members of the House of Lords. The briefing summarises the evidence on restorative justice, sets out where it can be used in the criminal justice system, gives some examples of how well it has been made to work internationally, and includes the stories of people who have participated in the process.  

The briefing can be downloaded here.  

The debate can be read here.