RJC response to Punishment and Reform: Effective Community Sentences

In our 2012 response to the report Punishment and Reform: Effective Community Sentences, the Restorative Justice Council (RJC) highlighted that:

• Pre-sentence restorative justice has been shown to be effective by international precedent and a £7 million government research programme.
• Pre-sentence restorative justice provides the earliest opportunity for victims who want to participate to do so – it should be offered alongside options for those who are not yet ready.
• There has not been a single instance of pre-sentence restorative justice in this country since the research trials closed in 2004 – without legislation pre-sentence restorative justice will not happen.

The RJC calls on the government to enact legislation to support the use of restorative justice.