Press release

Press Release 193/2003 - Serving the community - major internation criminal justice conference

8 July 2003

The Government today hosted a unique major international conference to draw up a blueprint for the delivery of justice in the 21st century which would see increased community involvement and a system that serves local people.

For the first time, more than 300 of the UK's major players in the delivery of criminal justice heard first-hand from American pioneers of community engagement.
Key note speakers included Home Secretary David Blunkett, the Lord Chief Justice Lord Woolf, Judge Alex Calabrese from Red Hook Community Court and Community Prosecutor Jennifer Etheridge from Baltimore.

The day-long conference attended by people from all over the UK featured plans for a pilot community justice centre currently under development by the Government's justice departments to tackle minor offences.

These one-stop crime busting shops will, under one roof and with a multi-agency approach, not only deal with the crime but its causes and its prevention. Close involvement of the community means that the sentences handed out will be geared towards local crime priorities such as clearing up the local area.
Conference delegates, including judges, criminal justice professionals and voluntary sector workers learnt about international best practice to make the justice system in Britain more responsive and relevant to local communities.

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The Government's progress on reforming the correctional services to beat crime is charted in a pamphlet published at today's conference by the Home Secretary. Making the Right Choice sets out the Government's agenda to rehabilitate offenders, and prevent a return to crime.

Addressing the conference Mr Blunkett said:

“People's lives are blighted by the crime in their neighbourhood and they can feel powerless to do anything about it. Graffiti, criminal damage and car crime are not the most serious crimes but they can be very distressing and can leave a lasting mark on people's enjoyment of their community. I want ordinary people to feel they are involved in beating crime and meting out punishment to offenders.

“For people to have confidence in the system they must feel it works on their behalf, is accountable to them and that they are connected to it. The more people are involved in the solution the greater the success – this is the message from Red Hook Community Court in America.

“We will shortly announce details of the community court pilot in this country. But there are already signs of early success in the Government's drive to tackle low level crime. Over 1,000 Anti Social Behaviour Orders have been issued since April 1999, when they were introduced, to March this year.

“Engaging people is crucial - we must be more open and involve the public in what should be their system. Today I am publishing a pamphlet for the public to demonstrate the real impact of correctional services on reducing reoffending. Some people still peddle the myth that trying to turn criminals away from crime is a waste of effort. They claim that prison and probation make no difference - once a criminal always a criminal. As a Government, we refuse to accept such a counsel of despair and are determined to tackle offenders head on.

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“I am determined to ensure that children under the age of ten do not get away with running riot in our communities, causing havoc, creating fear and getting away with it. I have no intention of lowering the age of criminal responsibility but children do understand rules and can and should understand the consequences of breaking them. That is why I am looking at what more can be done to strengthen existing powers to restrain and deal with violent and anti-social young children.”

David Blunkett concluded:

“The Government has started a coherent programme of reform across the piece, with record numbers of police officers, crime rates falling, reductions in reoffending and a flagship Criminal Justice Bill. But reform and legislation is only part of the process. It's what happens locally, in people's ordinary lives, that matters. Today's conference builds on the vision I set out in my Edith Kahn civil renewal lecture last month and demonstrates the breadth of our ambition. It brings together new ideas with the guiding principle of making the justice system more community focused.

“We need to re-evaluate the way we deliver justice in this country - looking to find new ways of serving the community and engaging them in the system. I ask all of you to be part of the solution.”

There is a strong tradition of community engagement in the criminal justice process in Britain – beginning with juries and lay magistrates. This has evolved with the creation of Local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships, Local Community Legal Service Partnerships, Neighbourhood Wardens, Youth Offender Panels, Victim Support and mentoring for example.

The Criminal Justice, Anti-Social Behaviour and Courts Bills currently before Parliament will help to refocus the justice system on victims and the people it serves. The 42 new Local Criminal Justice Boards will improve local engagement and local delivery. The conference will look at how to extend this community involvement further.

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Notes to editors:

1. The conference was held at Queen Elizabeth II Centre in Westminster London on Monday 7 July. See Home Office opnote 039/2003. The aim of the Conference is to re-evaluate the relationship between the community and criminal justice in order to raise levels of community engagement and ensure that the CJS services the community more effectively. Speakers include: Home Secretary David Blunkett, Lord Chief Justice Lord Woolf, Community Prosecution Chief Jennifer Etheridge from the State's Attorney's Office for Balitimore City and Judge Alex Calabrese from the Red Hook Community Justice Centre in New York. There was a panel taking questions from the audience chaired by the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith, including the previous speakers and Christopher Leslie Minister at the Department for Constitutional Affairs and Eilish Agiolini Solicitor General for Scotland. In the afternoon a series of workshops (closed to media) discussed how to increase community involvement in the justice system.

2. Jennifer Etheridge is an Assistant State's Attorney for Baltimore City and the Community Prosecution Chief. She wrote, and is the recipient of, an Implementation Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance to implement a Community Prosecution Pilot Program in the Washington Village/Pigtown area of Baltimore City. The pilot involves in-depth interaction with community members and other City agencies while actively prosecuting those “nuisance” crimes, such as public urination, prostitution, and littering, which adversely impact the quality of life of city residents. She is also working with the University of Maryland's legal clinics to create a Community Prosecution educational programme to educate both the community and local law enforcement about the benefits of addressing Quality of Life issues and utilising Community Prosecution principles.

3. The Honorable Alex M Calabrese is the Presiding Judge of the Red Hook Community Justice Center, in Brooklyn, New York, the most comprehensive community court in the United States. The Justice Center is a one judge court, with Criminal, Family and Housing Court jurisdiction. Before his April 2000 assignment to Red Hook, Judge Calabrese was a Brooklyn Criminal Court judge.

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4. The Home Secretary visited the Red Hook community court in New York in April 2003. The court is one of two award-winning courts created by the Center for Court Innovation. Both courts involve community service projects specifically designed to pay back the community harmed by crime, outside agencies to address the underlying problems of defendants and court-based mediation to deal with minor disputes. This has led to significant reductions in street crime and anti-social behaviour, and has increased public confidence in the criminal justice system. (Press notice 102/2003 2 April 2003). The design of the Red Hook Justice Center reflects five main principles:

For further information on Red Hook see the Center for Court Innovation's website: http://www.courtinnovation.org/demo_09rhcjc.html.

5. The location of the community justice centre pilot in Britain will be announced later this year. It will have a courtroom around which criminal justice agencies and social services, such as drug treatment, training and mediation, will be based to ensure that offenders have quick and easy access to the support needed to get them back on track.

6. The Home Secretary delivered the Edith Kahn Memorial Lecture to the Community Service Volunteers on 11 June 2003. See Home Office press notice 157/2003. He also published a pamphlet entitled 'Civil Renewal: A New Agenda' where he set out a far reaching reform agenda to empower communities and boost active citizenship.

7. The pamphlet on reducing reoffending – Making the Right Choice will be published at 10am on Monday 7 July. Media copies will be available from the Home Office Press Office on 020 7273 3782 and at the conference. The pamphlet will also be available online at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/justice/sentencing/rehabilitation/index.html

8. Anti-social behaviour orders (ASBO) were introduced by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and have been available since April 1999. They are civil court orders that can break the pattern of anti-social behaviour without criminalising the perpetrator. ASBOs are a highly effective method of dealing with people involved in some of the worst and most persistent forms of anti-social behaviour.

An ASBO contains prohibitions which the court deems necessary to protect the community from further anti-social acts by the individual concerned. The ASBO may prohibit the individual from acting in a specified anti-social manner or prohibit them entering a specified area. 1096 ASBOs have been issued from April 1999 to March 2003. Interim ASBOs and ASBOs on conviction of a criminal offence were introduced in the Police Reform Act 2002.These changes came in to force in December 2002 and have led to greatly increased numbers of ASBOs - 156 ASBOs were granted in the period from January to March 2003.


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