Restorative Justice amendment tabled in the House of Commons
This is a blog by our Communications and Campaigns Manager, Keeva Baxter.
Why me? are delighted to share that a new amendment has been tabled to the Victims and Courts Bill, which would give victims of crime the legal right to a referral to a Restorative Justice service. The amendment was tabled by Paul Kohler MP this week, as part of the Right to be heard campaign run by Why me? and The Common Ground Justice Project. Paul is an Ambassador for Why me? and a strong advocate for wider access to restorative services, having been through the Restorative Justice process himself after being attacked in his home.
The amendment has been tabled in the Report Stage of the House of Commons, and we hope to see it be debated in Parliament on Monday. This came after Why me?, The Common Ground Justice Project and Calm Mediation met with Paul Kohler and his team, expressing the needs of the sector and how putting Restorative Justice in primary legislation will strengthen access to it. We worked in collaboration to formulate the wording of the amendment as follows.
Paul also tabled a second amendment on Restorative Justice, centred around the ‘duty to report on the use of restorative justice services’.
Can you help?
If you have time over the weekend, please reach out to your local MP, or any MPs you have in your network to ask them to sponsor the amendment (NC15) in advance of the debate on Monday.
We are pleased to have reached this stage, a significant step forward for people affected by crime accessing Restorative Justice. We urge the Government to make this amendment to the Victims and Courts Bill and look forward to seeing the outcome next week. Make sure you are signed up to our newsletter to get updates as the campaign develops.
