In response to the announcement of the £2 million Youth Justice Board Grant to youth offending teams (YOTs) for restorative justice training, the Restorative Justice Council (RJC) are offering information and support to YOTs who would like to develop and improve their restorative justice provision.
The RJC provides a number of services including practitioner registration and accreditation, a Trainer Register, the Restorative Service Quality Mark and Continuing Professional Development events. To find out more download the information sheet below.
Victims are to get access to vital support thanks to a new £12m fund announced by victims’ minister Damian Green on 25 February.
From October 2014, Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) will be responsible for commissioning further specialist services for victims of the most serious crimes, including domestic violence and sexual violence, and support for the most vulnerable on our society. PCCs are to bid for a share of the fund on top of their yearly budget for 2014/15. The fund is due to open for bids shortly, with PCCs receiving funding as soon as possible.
The Ministry of Justice has issued guidance today on the use of pre-sentence restorative justice (RJ). Provision for pre-sentence RJ was brought in by the Crime and Courts Act 2013 which allowed for courts to defer sentencing in order for restorative justice to take place where both the offender and victim were willing to participate.
The RJC has commissioned Sheffield Hallam University to undertake a mapping exercise of restorative justice providers within the criminal justice sector in England and Wales. This opportunity will enable police and crime commissioners (PCCs) to understand and expand on the existing provision in their areas and will create a directory of services which victims of crime will be able to use to check provision of services in their area.
A new report on child arrests from the Howard League for Penal Reform recommends that police forces increase the use of restorative justice (RJ) with child offenders in order to reduce the number of children who are arrested in England and Wales. The report highlights the contribution of police using RJ to the recent reduction in child arrests which have decreased by nearly two thirds (59 per cent) since 2008. The report credits part of this reduction to the use of RJ and recommends that:
The Centre for Innovative Justice, a department within RMIT University in Australia, has published a major report which recommends the use of restorative justice in cases of sexual offending. The report, Innovative justice responses to sexual offending, recommends that "with comprehensive safeguards and a coordinated, properly resourced system - sexual offence restorative justice conferencing has the potential to meet more of the justice needs of those victims who are being failed by the existing system."
The Restorative Justice Council is inviting members to stand for election to join the RJC board of trustees.
The board of trustees is the RJC's governing body. Trustees play a vital role guiding and enabling the vision and work of your organisation.
Seven RJC trustees are elected directly from the membership. They reflect the broad field of restorative practice and act in the best interests of the RJC to help us meet our charitable aims and fulfil our vision for everyone to have access to restorative practice.
The RJC board of trustees is proposing some changes to the RJC’s Articles of Association, which is our governing document. The rationale for these changes is explained in a note from the RJC’s chair, Graham Robb, which is available to download below. The proposed resolutions, which specify the exact changes, can also be downloaded below, along with the proposed new Articles of Association. The RJC’s board is asking members to vote for all of these resolutions.
Restorative justice works. The evidence shows that restorative justice meets the needs of victims and reduces the frequency of reoffending.
In 2001, the government funded a £7 million, seven year research programme into restorative justice. The independent evaluation, published by the Ministry of Justice, found that in a randomised control trial of the use of restorative justice with adult offenders:
