The Facts
Restorative Justice works
The Government funded a £7 million, seven year research programme into Restorative Justice in 2001. It showed that:
- 85% of victims who took part were satisfied with the process.
- 78% of victims who take part in Restorative Justice would recommend it to others.
- Restorative Justice reduces the frequency of repeated offending by 14%
- Restorative Justice saves £8 to the criminal justice system for every £1 spent.
Research in New Zealand found that offenders who had been through Restorative Justice committed 23% fewer offences over the following 12 months than those who had not.
Victims are entitled to Restorative Justice, but aren’t getting it. The Victims Code states that all victims of crime should be made aware of the opportunity of Restorative Justice. But only 7.5% of victims recall this subject being raised.
Restorative Justice is popular
An Ipsos Mori poll in 2016 found that:
- 83% of victims of crime believe that they should have the right to meet their offender.
- 77% of the public believe that victims should have the right to meet their offender.
- 69% of the public think that offenders need to see the real impact of their crimes and face their victims.
Hate Crime
Hate Crime is rising. There was a 29% rise in reporting in 2016/17, with over 80,000 reported hate crimes. A University of Huddersfield report estimated that more than double this amount go unreported.
Hate Crime victims are more affected by the crime than victims of equivalent crimes not motivated by hate. 92% of Hate Crime victims feel emotionally affected by the incident, compared to 81% for victims of crime generally.
Hate Crime victims are less satisfied with police handling of the incident than victims of non-hate crimes. Around half of hate crime victims (52%) are satisfied with the police handling of the incident compared to around three quarters (73%) for victims of crime generally.
Here is our interim report from the Delivering Restorative Justice for Hate Crime project.