tent>
More offenders to face up to their crimes
More offenders will be personally held to account for their crimes by meeting the victim face-to- face or indirectly through a mediator, under proposals announced today.
The pioneering restorative justice scheme will be extended to victims of crime, anti-social behaviour and school bullying. It has been used successfully with young offenders since 1998.
The programme forces offenders to understand the damaging effect their crimes have on their victims and the community.
Home Secretary David Blunkett said that more than 75 per cent of victims who choose to take part in restorative justice are pleased they did so. Restorative justice provides the victim with an explanation of why the crime was committed, he added.
“This is something a prison sentence on its own can never do and can enable victims to move on and carry on with their lives. It also means that for the first time offenders will be personally held to account for the crimes they have committed.”
The restorative justice strategy outlines plans to increase the use of restorative justice for adults. Restorative justice could be used:
- as a requirement of the new police conditional caution
- after an offender has been convicted - both before and after sentencing
- as part of sentence management, tied in with the offender’s completing of offending behaviour programmes
The proposals are published today alongside the first ever strategy dedicated to putting victims of crime at the heart of the criminal justice system.
Mr Blunkett said that the needs of victims and witnesses have been overlooked in the criminal justice system for too long. “It is time for that to change,” he said.
delicious
digg
facebook
