Community Justice Court -Developments
A verbal report will be provided.
Minutes:
The Board received a verbal presentation on how the Community Justice Court pilot was progressing.
The new style of Court was intended to ensure that offenders understood the impact of their crimes of individuals and the local community and to make provide the opportunity for them to make a contribution to the community as part of their sentence.
Magistrates were also given training to assist them to look at the individuals backgrounds and assess how they could best assist them to change their patterns of behaviour and reduce the likely hood of re-offending. This approach was innovative and was resourced and supported by a ‘Help Desk’. This was staffed by a support team that worked with individuals and provided information for Magistrates to inform their decisions.
In response to a query as to what action was being taken to ensure that public confidence was not lost, due to what might be perceived as a more lenient approach being taken, the Board was advised that a great deal of effort had been made by individual Magistrates to explain what was happening as part of the pilot. Many Magistrates had briefed local community groups and any requests for this type of briefing would be met.
The Chair thanked ?? for the presentation.