A decade or so ago I worked at the Fawcett Society, a charity that campaigns for gender equality, leading their work to improve the criminal justice system for women who offend. It was a topical issue – Baroness Corston was in the process of conducting her government-sponsored review on this issue – and there was an emerging political consensus that the justice system simply did not work well enough for women. It was broadly agreed that prison, and particularly short prison sentences, were overused, with serious effects on the women’s own wellbeing as well as that of their families.
Our AGM and annual conference are taking place on 18 November 2015 and for the first time the conference is open to a limited number of non-members.
The theme for this year's conference is Restorative justice - 2020 vision. It will explore how the restorative practice field could develop over the next five years.
RJC members are invited to join from 9.30am, but from 11.15am the event is open to all.
The Restorative Justice Council (RJC) has commissioned the Institute of Criminal Policy Research to map all restorative justice provision in the criminal justice system in England and Wales.
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.
