Local Communities to help Courts with Sentencing
29/12/2006
Two new initiatives will see local communities help magistrates' courts with sentencing.
New “Community Impact Statements” will allow local communities to tell the court before it sentences about the effect of crime in their area. In a further initiative, local community organisations will be asked to tell the court what unpaid work they would like offenders to be sentenced to in order to help improve communities affected by crime.
These two new initiatives will be part of the Community Justice Programme, which aims to connect courts to their local communities and build the confidence of local communities in the criminal justice system.
If there is a series of incidents on a housing estate or in a village that affects residents' quality of life, like public nuisance, vandalism, graffiti and property damage, community impact statements will better inform the magistrates or judges who deal with the case.
When sentencing, courts should take into account the impact of the crime. But until now it could only hear from the individual victim, not the wider local community.
The Community Impact Statement (CIS) will tell the court about the crime's impact on the local community so that it has the full picture of how it has affected those who live and work in the area.
It is the next step in the community justice roll-out that sees 10 new community courts being piloted in England and Wales.
Constitutional Affairs Minister Rt Hon Harriet Harman QC MP said:
“At present, an individual victim can explain to the court the impact of an offence. But there is no mechanism for the community as a whole to tell the court how a crime has affected them. This initiative will help the court understand the effect of the crime on the local community.
“We will be trying out how community groups like the parish council or tenants' and residents' associations will be able to tell the court about how crimes affect the local community.”
In another move designed to increase public confidence in non custodial sentences, the National Criminal Justice Board is taking forward an initiative whereby the court will advertise for local community organisations to suggest unpaid work that courts could order offenders to do in the local community. When completed, a plaque would show that a particular piece of work had been ordered by the local magistrates' court, in response to a request made by that local community. She has asked the Camberwell Green magistrates' court to work with the National Offender Management Service to establish how this will be done. This is also something that the 10 new community courts can choose to pilot.
Ms. Harman said:
“Unpaid work can help local communities and give offenders experience of work. But it should be work that the local community tells the court that it wants done and the local community must be able to see that it has actually been carried out.
“Everyone knows that overcrowded prisons reduce the chances of rehabilitation of the offender by curtailing the opportunity for training, education and support. It also costs a great deal of public money – it costs around £28,000 per year to keep an offender in prison.
“We want the public to have confidence in the greater use of non-custodial sentences. That means that when the court orders a fine – it must be paid, when it orders compensation to the victim that must be paid and when it orders an offender to do unpaid work they must do it.”
Notes to Editors
1. Community Impact Statements are about to be tested in Salford where there are recurrent problems with anti social behaviour and intimidation in some public places. Police Community Support Officers will prepare a CIS when someone is charged with an offence which contributes to an ongoing pattern of crimes or behaviour that is having a detrimental effect on people's lives. The statement will form part of the prosecution file in the same way as other evidence.
2. In addition, the judge at the pioneering North Liverpool Community Justice Centre meets regularly with local people who tell him what's happening in their neighbourhoods and what crimes are causing most distress and their impact.
3. On November 27, the Government announced that 10 new community justice courts would be piloted in Birmingham, Bradford, Devon and Cornwall, Kingston upon Hull, Leicestershire, Merthyr Tydfil, Middlesbrough and Nottingham. In addition, two projects will be developed in London. Further details can be found at: http://www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=246109&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=True
4. Details of the Government's Respect Action Plan can be found at: www.respect.gov.uk
5. The National Criminal Justice Board was established in May 2004 and comprises representatives from across the criminal justice departments and agencies, No. 10, Treasury and the judiciary. It supports the 42 local Boards to improve public confidence in the criminal justice system and meet targets to produce are more effective and efficient justice system.