On the 7th December 2010, the UK government published its Sentencing Green Paper, announcing its intentions for key reforms in the adult and juvenile sentencing philosophy and practice. The consultation period will close on 4th March 2011 and IARS will work hard with its partners and members to feed into this unique opportunity.
Among other things, the Green paper highlights police-led street restorative justice (RJ) as a diversion from caution/reprimand for low level crime and anti-social behaviour, diversionary RJ for adult and young offenders, and RJ pre-sentence for adult offenders. IARS has championed RJ since its creation and provided evidence based arguments to government and international fora.
This consultation sets out the resulting proposals which aim to break the destructive cycle of crime and protect the public, through more effectively punishing and rehabilitating offenders and reforming the sentencing framework.
The Ministerial Foreword in the Green paper noted: "There is much work to do in a criminal justice system whish is so badly in need of reform ... We will simplify and reduce a great mass of legislation ... We will put a much stronger emphasis on compensation for victims ... I think it is right to describe these reforms as both radical and realistic".
Dr. Theo Gavrielides, IARS Director, said: "We welcome the goverment's plans for a more holistic approach to offending. 75% of offenders sentenced to youth custody re-offend within a year. It is about time that crime is seen as a harm done to the victim, the society and indeed sometimes to those close to the offender. Restorative justice and alternative dispute resolution processes have proved their significant contribution to the methodologies adopted by the current criminal justice system. The genuine intentions behind these reforms are still to be seen and tested".
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