Over the weekend I attended a fringe event at the Liberal Democrat Party Conference in Brighton which discussed the merits of Restorative Justice (RJ). As part of the panel, a victim spoke about her experience with crime and RJ. In addition to hearing all the glowing statistics surrounding RJ – the high level of reported victim satisfaction with the RJ process, the reduced rates of reoffending, etc. – it was the anecdote from the victim that made the most impact. She told of having been burgled and later coming face to face with the perpetrator at a RJ meeting. At that meeting she asked him whether, when he broke into her house, he thought of the family who lived there. Apparently he said that if he thought about the people involved, he wouldn’t be able to commit the crimes he committed. And that’s exactly the point of RJ. It puts a human face on victims, and lets perpetrators of crime or other wrongdoing see the affect their behaviour has on others. Many attribute RJ’s success to this.

For the unfamiliar, RJ is defined as the processes which “bring those harmed by crime or conflict, and those responsible for the harm, into communication, enabling everyone affected by a particular incident to play a part in repairing the harm and finding a positive way forward.” (From the Restorative Justice Council website.)

When I sat on the Community Services Scrutiny Committee earlier this spring we approved a programme to further the use of RJ in Cambridge. RJ can take many forms, including the programme that my committee approved, which involves the use of neighbourhood resolution panels. In this model of RJ, a City Council employee will recruit, and arrange the training of, community volunteers to conduct the neighbourhood resolution panels. City Council is currently recruiting for the role of Neighbourhood Resolution Panel Co-ordinator now.

When we approved this new programme, I spoke at the committee meeting, praising RJ as an enlightened approach to dealing with an array of problems. I am pleased to be able to promote the use of RJ in Cambridge and I am hopeful that our new RJ programme will benefit the city for years to come.

– Cllr Andrea Reiner