Source: (2001) Paper presented at the Restorative and Community Justice: Inspiring the Future conference, held in Winchester, England, 28-31 March.
Sir Charles Pollard, Chief Constable of the Thames Valley Police, and a member of the Youth Justice Board in England, begins with the observation that victims are the forgotten people of the criminal justice system. This is symptomatic, in his view, of what is in general wrong with criminal justice as conventionally structured and pursued. The need is to bring human concerns and human emotions back into the impersonal, over-technical, introverted justice system. This would make it possible to re-establish victims’ place in the process, make the system fairer, and reduce the likelihood of re-offending. On these bases, Pollard looks at the nature of restorative justice and evidence of its effectiveness.
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