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Crime: Reoffending

My Lords, I support the noble Baroness, Lady Linklater, on the theme of reparation, which I think is rather dear to her heart. Restorative justice has had official approval at least since an Act was introduced in New Zealand in 1989. It has spread through the English-speaking world and now includes countries such as Austria and Norway. Despite experiments in places as different as Texas, Minnesota and Northern Ireland, the concept is still not very well known here, except perhaps among practitioners. I will therefore try to define restorative justice. It usually involves a form of mediation between offenders or anti-social people and their victims or those who have suffered damage or harm. Mediation also takes place between the offender and the wider community aimed at reintegrating the offender into society. It provides for dialogue and negotiation with a view to problem solving and, if possible, full resolution. I argue that restorative justice has a major potential for reducing reoffending and can be an alternative to some custodial punishments. I say this because it aims to bring about a positive change within the offender. Instead of their making excuses or putting up defences, offenders and anti-social people are helped to acknowledge wrongdoing and to understand the impact of their conduct on individuals, families and neighbours. They are encouraged to accept responsibility for their behaviour. That can be life-changing, and has led to some amazing reconciliations. The usual steps forward are agreements, which are sometimes acceptable behaviour agreements, apologies and acts of reparation, whether to individuals or to the wider community. Restorative justice can work at many different levels. I have personally seen it at community or street level, in Belfast, but also at Crown Court level in London. It can operate with petty offenders, often diverting them away from the courts and preventing their acquiring a criminal record. Thames Valley Police, who have been mentioned, have pioneered restorative and conditional cautioning over several years, with Home Office evaluation. The consensus view seems to be that restorative methods are probably best applied by independent people, and that it may be wise not to use police stations for that purpose. At the other end of the scale, restorative justice methods can be effective with serious offences and violent crime. They have been used successfully with cases of driving under the influence of drugs or drink, sexual abuse, assault and murder. The methods can help even where the victim and offender do not actually meet, or only do so by proxy; for example, with the help of a relative of the victim. The surprising and encouraging fact is the general satisfaction that restorative justice has produced. In Minnesota, for example, the juvenile reoffending rate fell from 72 per cent to 33 per cent, with high approval from victims, parents and offenders. In one part of Belfast, 86 per cent of young people to whom these methods were applied agreed a contract within one month, and 64 per cent of them completed it within six months. In another part of Belfast, more than 80 per cent of 500 cases reached a satisfactory resolution. I am glad to say that, under the 2002 Northern Ireland Act, all offences short of indictment can be diverted if that is considered appropriate. Most people agree that human rights standards must always be respected as restorative justice is developed. That may mean that the offender is legally represented. The processes need to be adequately funded. I hope the Government are listening. Surely, for example, training and supporting volunteer mentors and facilitators will be far cheaper than building and staffing even more prisons. Do the Government favour having a national body to develop restorative justice at all levels? I welcome the 2003 consultation paper, but must go on to ask: what is the Government’s policy following the responses to that paper? Do they agree that the restorative approach to both petty and major crime will help prevent reoffending? It appears that the Home Secretary is in agreement, since he has been trumpeting the many millions of hours of compulsory community work so far done by offenders.