Restorative justice received widespread coverage yesterday when the Victoria Derbyshire show on BBC Two featured a powerful interview with Laura, a child sexual abuse survivor who met her abuser in a restorative justice conference.
The Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire Restorative Justice and Mediation Service has become the first restorative police and crime commissioner hub to achieve the Restorative Service Quality Mark (RSQM).
Susan is a restorative justice facilitator. When her bike was stolen, she was given the opportunity to experience a restorative justice conference from an entirely new perspective.
On Friday 9 October, the RJC hosted a sold-out event for the judiciary on restorative justice. With over 100 attendees, the conference demonstrated the benefits of restorative justice and encouraged the judiciary to increase its use.
Last week I met the new chief executive of the Forgiveness Project, now chaired by my predecessor at the RJC, Lizzie Nelson. Among other issues, we discussed how forgiveness relates to restorative justice. When asked by a friend when I first joined the RJC, this was something that I really struggled to explain. Eighteen months later it remains a challenging issue.
As part of the 2015 standards and guidance review, the RJC sought views from members on a proposed new version of the RJC Principles of Restorative Processes. In light of the consultation responses received, the 2015 version of the Principles document was produced.
A summary of members' responses and the revisions made is available below.
As part of the 2015 standards and guidance review, the RJC sought views from members on a proposed new version of the RJC Principles of Restorative Processes. The updated 2015 version of the Principles is available below.
A summary of members' responses and the revisions made is available here.
The Sentencing Council has this week published new guidelines to sentencing theft offences, along with its response to consultation submissions on this topic.
The new guidelines take an important step, marking a distinction between the material value and the emotional value of items stolen from the victims. The assessment of harm to the victim now contains not only financial harm and inconvenience, but emotional distress, fear and loss of confidence caused by the crime, as well as the non-monetary value of the items taken.
