Last week a case involving a boy who sent a naked picture of himself to a schoolmate, and the subsequent involvement of the police, made the news.
When the police became aware that this incident had occurred they had little choice but to record it as a crime. The boy hasn’t been charged but his involvement in this incident is now on police records and may therefore be accessible if anyone requests an advanced criminal record check. This is far from ideal, but it’s hard to see what else the police could have done in these circumstances.
The RJC is holding six exciting free workshops for those who provide training in restorative practice. The workshops are exclusively for restorative trainers and will enable participants to discuss good practice with their peers.
The workshops will focus on the key areas of assessment covered in the Training Approval Scheme including activities and discussions on:
The Restorative Justice Council (RJC) is inviting tenders for a project to review two of our key quality schemes - the Restorative Service Quality Mark (RSQM) and Training Approval Scheme (TAS).
The first piece of research from the UK pilot of the Europe-wide programme, Restorative justice at post-sentencing level; supporting and protecting victims, has been released. Consisting of a series of detailed, in-depth interviews, the results offer an insight into the practical and operational barriers denying victims access to restorative justice meetings.
A couple of weeks ago the Howard League launched a campaign focused on the new criminal courts charge, which is imposed on anyone convicted of an offence regardless of their capacity to pay. Through this campaign they have highlighted examples of cases where offenders have faced steep financial penalties for relatively minor crimes. The media has also recently focused on the case of Louisa Sewell, who was given a £328.75 fine for stealing a packet of Mars Bars.
The RJC recently submitted a consultation response to the Ministry of Justice welcoming revised proposals to the Victims’ Code. The code of practice for victims of crime establishes minimum standards for their rights, support and protection.
The RJC would like all victims of crime to have access to restorative justice and are pleased to see common barriers to access – from information sharing to type of offence - addressed in these revisions.
The RJC has submitted a response to an independent review, chaired by Lord Laming and established by the Prison Reform Trust, to consider why looked after children are more likely than other children in England and Wales to get involved with the criminal justice system. The review aims to determine what can be done to help more children in care stay out of trouble.
The RJC would like restorative justice to be used increasingly as a diversionary measure with children in care who display challenging behaviour. The following recommendations have been made as part of the submission:
