Amendment to the Victims and Courts Bill tabled in the House of Lords
This is a blog by our Communications and Campaigns Manager, Keeva Baxter.
Why me? are delighted to announce that our amendment to the Victims and Courts Bill, which would give victims of crime the right to be referred to their local Restorative Justice service, has been tabled in the House of Lords.
As part of our ‘Right to be Heard’ campaign, with the Common Ground Justice Project, the amendment was tabled in the House of Commons by MP and Why me? Ambassador, Paul Kohler. The amendment received a positive endorsement from the Government, when Alex Davies-Jones said that both the Prisons Minister and the Secretary of State are “passionate believers” in Restorative Justice and that “it can provide better victim outcome and lower reoffending rates in the future.” She ended by saying that “we are looking closely at this as a department and will continue to work closely with him (Paul Kohler MP) to see how best we can bring out Restorative Justice programmes across the Ministry of Justice.”
We were pleased to see a positive reception from the Government, but without further action we decided to pursue the amendment again when the Bill reached the House of Lords. The Bill is now entering its Committee Stage, beginning on the 9th of February.
In advance of this, Baroness Brinton, a long-time supporter of both Restorative Justice and victims of crime, who previously spoke positively about Restorative Justice in the second reading of the Bill, has tabled the amendment for us.
Having the amendment tabled in the House of Lords is a huge step forward for the campaign and for people affected by crime. Being raised on such a high profile platform brings attention to the need for access to Restorative Justice to be widened. With most people affected by crime never finding out that Restorative Justice is an option for them, the need for increased awareness is paramount.
We look forward to seeing the outcome next week and will keep you posted as we learn more.
