Doing justice differently - 10 courts of the community, by the community and for the community
Ten new community courts were announced today by Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer.
Speaking at a major criminal justice conference in London, Lord Falconer said
community justice is a way of connecting local communities more closely to local courts - delivering justice in the way communities want to see.
Building on the North Liverpool Community Justice Centre and a similar project in Salford, 10 communities will now be able to tell their local court about the crimes that affect them and where they live, and what it should do to deal with them.
The 10 new areas are Birmingham, Bradford, Devon and Cornwall, Kingston upon Hull, Leicestershire, Merthyr Tydfil, Middlesbrough and Nottingham. In addition, two projects will be developed in London.
Lord Falconer outlined the eight key principles of community justice. They are:
* courts connecting to the community
* justice is seen to be done
* cases handled robustly and speedily
* a strong independent judiciary
* solving problems, finding solutions
* working together
* repairing harm, raising confidence
* re-integrating offenders, building communities
The new projects will apply these principles to the needs and circumstances of their neighbourhoods. The aim will be to test them further before they are then applied throughout England and Wales.
Lord Falconer said:
"We need to do justice differently. Communities hit hard by crime want to see justice done in ways that connect more closely to the community.
"We need courts that are of the community, by the community and for the community. These 10 new community courts will deliver the justice communities want to see."
The announcement follows up proposals in the Government's paper Delivering Simple, Speedy, Summary Justice launched in July 2006 for the faster, more proportionate handling of offenders. This also supports the Government's Respect drive which aims to build a modern culture of respect by tackling not tolerating bad behaviour and by putting the responsible majority back in charge of their communities.
Notes to Editors
1. Preparatory has started with the local agencies and the judiciary in those areas to establish details of how these initiatives will operate in practice, when they will start and precisely where they will be located
2. The North Liverpool Community Justice Centre opened in December 2004, and the Salford magistrates' court Community Justice Initiative began operating in 2005.
ENDS