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Implementing Restorative Justice Schemes

This Home Office report focuses on processes and initiation of 3 restorative justice schemes under its Crime Reduction Programme from mid-2001:

• CONNECT

• The Justice Research Consortium

• REMEDI

Title: Implementing Restorative Justice Schemes
Author: Research Development and Statistics Directorate
Series: Research Development and Statistics Directorate Online Report 32/04
Number of pages: 77
Date Published: July 2004

The report describes each of the schemes aims, provides a record of the implementation stages of the 3 projects. The initial process of the schemes took more time than expected, and some schemes did not reach their normal, routine working until summer 2002. 
Subsequent reports will focus on the process, development, and outputs of restorative justice, with the evaluation finishing at the end of 2006.

Restorative Justice definition

'Restorative justice is a process whereby parties with a stake in a specific offence collectively resolve how to deal with the aftermath of the offence and its implications for the future'. Marshall (1999)

Restorative justice covers a number of slightly different practices, including:

• Direct mediation
  where victim and offender meet face-to-face, with a facilitator/mediator

• Indirect mediation
  involves the passage of information between victim and offender, via the mediator.

• Conferencing
  the victim and offender are brought together by the facilitator at a meeting, with their supporters/family etc. and possibly other people affected by the offence also present.

Restorative Justice Schemes

CONNECT

Connect, run jointly by NACRO and the Probation Service in London, has been working with 2 magistrates' courts in inner London, taking cases involving adult offenders between conviction and sentence, after sentence, or if sentence is deferred. 

The original aims emphasised:

• reducing re-offending

• enabling the victim to ask questions and receive information from the offender

• enabling the victim to receive reparation and/or an apology from the offender

• increasing a sense of responsibility by the offender for the offence

• leaving the victim and offender with a greater sense of satisfaction about the criminal justice process.

Cases referred to CONNECT up to 31 August 2002	Completed cases	Indirect/direct mediation used
59	37	12

Key difficulties and developments

• Maintaining an adequate flow of cases.

• The area has a high volume of drug-related crime and a high proportion of indictable-only cases. Custody was, therefore, often an option, leaving few cases for CONNECT to deal with.

• Referrals from sentencers were fewer than expected. 

• The offenders in the cases CONNECT has taken on are older on average than those of the other schemes.

• Victim contact has also been problematic.

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Justice Research Consortium (JRC)

The JRC has been working on 3 sites to undertake conferencing, using an experimental model in which cases are randomly assigned to conferencing or to a control group. 

JRC has:

London
after an initial phase at magistrates' courts, been working with adult offenders pre-sentence at the Crown Court . 

Northumbria
been working with adult offenders at the pre-sentence phase in the magistrates' court, with young offenders given final warnings and, though not using random assignment, with adult offenders who are cautioned. 

Thames Valley
been working with adult offenders suggested for or given community sentences, and with prisoners near release from prison.

The original aims were the same for all 3 sites worked upon, and emphasised:

• the experimental nature of the 'randomised controlled trials' (RCTs), aiming at high levels of consistency between sites and specificity between RCTs

• reducing offender re-offending

• providing benefits to victims, in particular, an opportunity for participation.

JRC London

Number of referrals at JRC up to 31 August 2002	Number of offender conferences
271	73

Key difficulties and developments

• There were initial problems with recruiting police officer facilitators and finding accommodation.

• Case flow from the original areas of Haringey and Lewisham was lower than expected because of attrition between arrest and court appearance. 

• There were difficulties with taking cases at an earlier point than a guilty plea, so the referral point was changed to this, with restorative justice now taking place pre-sentence with adults only.

• By late autumn 2001, JRC had switched from magistrates' court cases to Crown Court centres, with the RCTs being 100 cases for street crime from the Crown Court pre-sentence, and 100 cases for burglary. 

• Despite problems, the scheme has achieved a high rate of 'converting' referrals to cases with agreement from both offender and victim that a conference could take place.

JRC Northumbria

Cases referred to JRC Northumbria up to 31 August 2002	Number of conferences
287	73

JRC Thames Valley

Number of cases worked on by JRC Thames Valley as at 31 August 2002	Cases completed	Cases held
374	287	41

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REMEDI

The original aims of the project were:

• repairing relationships/reducing the likelihood of future conflicts between victims and offenders.

• increasing the participation of victims and offenders in working out what to do about the offence.

• providing a fair and just response and outcome in relation to the offence.

This scheme provides mediation services, both direct and indirect mediation, in South Yorkshire, with several offices spread over the whole county. REMEDI has been working with both adult and youth offenders at several different stages of criminal justice.

Adult referrals

Number of Adult referrals	Cases completed	Completed direct mediation
485	369	12

Youth referrals

Number of Youth referrals	Cases completed	Completed direct mediation
347	279	95

Key difficulties and developments

• Good contacts with probation offices and YOTs are key.

• Self-referrals from prisoners and youth work related to referral orders and community sentences have provided useful sources.

• Obtaining victim contact details is difficult. 

• There have been pressures on the focus of the project due to funding opportunities

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Getting a copy

Download: Implementing Restorative Justice Schemes PDF 565kb

Last update: 20 July 2004