The UK Government's restorative justice strategy
The UK Government released a strategy and consultation paper on restorative justice on July 22nd. It outlined the government's commitment to developing restorative practices and asked for comments from the general public. The Home Office is now seeking international responses to the consultation paper.
The UK Government published a strategy and consultation document on restorative justice on July 22nd this year. The Government's plans are to maximise the use of restorative justice where we know it works well, to meet victims' needs, to reduce reoffending and to support communities in their search for positive solutions to crime and anti-social behaviour.
The strategy will build restorative justice into the adult criminal justice system, as part of police cautioning, community sentences, and as part of prison service and probation work with offenders and victims. We are also looking at ways to maintain and improve the quality of restorative justice practice and to facilitate data sharing to help restorative approaches run smoothly. In addition to these initiatives, we will continue to research how and when restorative justice works – through the current pilots (looking at restorative justice within the criminal justice system) and the new diversionary restorative pilot – and through looking at how we can integrate restorative justice more fully into the adult CJS.
The strategy is available on the Home Office website at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/justice/victims/restorative/index.html.
We would very much welcome international responses to this consultation document, as we believe we could learn a lot from other countries where mediation and restorative justice are already widely used. In particular, we would welcome responses to the relevant questions that are posed in the document. Any papers or documents about the use of restorative justice in your country would also be gratefully received.
Please send written responses, including your name, organisation (if any), address and e-mail address, to: Alex Crowe and Liz Nelson, Restorative Justice Team, 11th Floor, Home Office, 50 Queen Anne's Gate, London, SW1A 9AT, United Kingdom. Alternatively you can e-mail your response to alex.crowe@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk or liz.nelson@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk.
December 2003
