Evaluation of the pre-sentence restorative justice pathfinder

The Institute for Criminal Policy Research has released an evaluation of the pre-sentence restorative justice crown court pathfinder, developed and implemented by Restorative Solutions and Victim Support. The pathfinder examined how well pre-sentence restorative justice worked in practice for serious acquisitive and violent cases in ten Crown Courts in England and Wales. Pre-sentence restorative justice was given a statutory basis by The Crime and Courts Act 2013, which enabled deferral of sentencing for a restorative justice conference. 

The report covered victim and offender perspectives, implementation (including success of referral), barriers to restorative justice and recommendations for the future. The outcomes on victim satisfaction were very positive, with 77% ranking their experience of the conference as 9 or 10 on a scale of 1 to 10. However, the low caseload highlights the barriers – particularly with data sharing – faced by organisations working in restorative justice.

Jon Collins, chief executive officer of the Restorative Justice Council, said: “The results from the pre-sentence pathfinder show again that restorative justice is an important and helpful intervention for victims. It demonstrates that pre-sentence restorative justice can provide quick and timely relief for the victims who want to access it at this early stage, while addressing offenders’ behaviour at the earliest opportunity.

“We agree with the report’s conclusion that it should be made available as part of end-to-end restorative justice provision. To ensure that more victims have access to this vital intervention, data sharing must be improved and better understanding for victims and offenders must be promoted.”

You can read a more detailed analysis of the evaluation here.

You can read the evaluation here.