It looks like the Restorative Justice Council's Practitioners Register is growing. To view the register click here. There appear to be about 20 accredited members and another 40 or so associate members. Associate membership is open to anyone who agrees to the RJC Practitioner Code of Practice. This document states:
Restorative Processes bring those harmed by crime and conflict, and those responsible for the harm, into communication, enabling everyone affected by a particular incident to play a part in repairing the harm and finding a positive way forward.
Restorative skills can be used to deliver a formal restorative process (for example, a restorative justice conference involving victims and offenders, in a care home following an incident of harm, or in the community, to resolve a dispute between neighbours). The skills can also be used informally, to resolve conflict in the course of daily work (for example, as used by a police officer to deal with low level crime on the beat, or a teacher to manage a conflict between young people in the classroom).
I'd also like to point to this article, Victim Support: "widespread failure to keep victims informed undermines confidence." Javed Khan, Chief Executive at Victim Support (England and Wales) is quoted as saying, “The new register means that victims will be able to find out whether they are receiving a quality restorative justice service. This is so important because victims need to feel reassured that they will not be re-victimised and feel confident that the criminal justice system is working well for them. Ultimately, the register will give peace of mind.”
This article discusses the recent Left in the Dark report which was based on "a recent Victim Support survey of over 1,000 victims, which found that in around a third of reported incidents the victim hears nothing more from the authorities after reporting the crime."
This report makes a very interesting statistical point "where victims are kept very well informed by the police service, nearly all respondents (96%) were satisfied with the way in which their case was handled."
Read all of Brian Sims' article at info4security by clicking here.
