Victim Consultation And Reparation: Preliminary Lessons From Pilot Youth Offending Teams
| Date | 01 June 2000 |
| Published date | 01 June 2000 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455050004700208 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
PRACTICE NOTE
Victim Consultation And
Reparation: Preliminary
Lessons From Pilot
Youth Offending Teams
Jim Dignan outlines some important policy and practice issues
associated with the introduction of restorative justice measures
delivered by the pilot Youth Offending Teams (YOTs). In particular,
he examines possible tensions between the roles and responsibilities of
courts and YOTs; and between the demands of sensitive victim
consultation and ’fast-track’ justice.
he Crime and Disorder Act 1998, cautioning for young offenders and also
sets up a new statutory framework
the following new court disposals:
for dealing with young offenders, based on
~
Action Plan Orders
the creation of new-style multi-agency
~
Child
Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) (see
Safety Orders
Hine et al, 1999, for details of the
~
new
Parenting Orders
framework and interim report of the pilot
~
Reparation Orders
evaluation of the new YOTs). Youth
YOTs
Offending Teams are given wide-ranging
may either discharge these
responsibilities under the Act to collaborate
responsibilities directly, or in conjunction
with other
with the police in devising strategies to
statutory or non-statutory
reduce the level of crime and disorder in the
agencies including those operating in the
voluntary sector.
areas they serve and to co-ordinate the
delivery of a variety of new court orders
The reforms contained in the Crime and
and interventions. They include the new-
Disorder Act are being piloted in four full
style reprimands and final warnings which
pilot and five partial pilot areas, selected by
will replace the existing system of
the Home Office prior to being rolled out
132
nation-wide on 1 June 2000. This practice
into English criminal justice procedure as a
note addresses one key aspect of the
’mainstream’
intervention.
Other
reforms, which concerns the introduction of
conventional disposals such as the
a number of measures that are associated
compensation order and community service
with an approach that has become known
order are sometimes linked with the
as ’restorative justice’ (see Dignan, 2000,
concept of restorative justice. However,
for a fuller account).
neither of these measures attempts to
directly ’engage with’ either victims or
The Concept of Restorative Justice
offenders in the way that restorative justice
The term ’restorative justice’ is a
processes do and, for that reason, I would
convenient short-hand expression that is
argue that they are best regarded as
commonly applied to a variety of practices
conceptually distinct developments.
which seek to...
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