Today the Justice Select Committee has published its report on the draft Victims Bill which the Government published on 25 May 2022. The Committee’s pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill was a very welcome move, but the Government needs to move quickly to give reassurance that it will present the long-delayed Victims Bill soon to Parliament and that it will take account of the Justice Committee’s comments.
Dame Vera Baird has announced her resignation as the Victims Commissioner - her last day in office is to be Friday 30 September. Her office tweeted her letter of resignation to the new Secretary of State for Justice, Brandon Lewis MP, on Friday 23 September. Dame Vera’s term of office was due to end last June. Whilst previous Commissioners have had this extended for a second term automatically, the Government announced early this year that it would be conducting a full-scale recruitment process. However, the last Secretary of State Dominic Raab encouraged Dame Vera to apply.
Benjamin Fisk has been funded by the Restorative Justice Council and University of Gloucestershire to undertake a PhD titled “Evidencing Success and Successful Evidence in Restorative Work: Developing Models of “Effectiveness”, “Efficiency”, and “Impact”. Here he outlines what his research involves and some of the issues it is investigating.
