'Engaging Communities in Criminal Justice Green Paper published

The 'Engaging Communities in Criminal Justice' Green Paper has now been published and is also available online. In it, the Government sets out a vision of a criminal justice service "that is effective, delivers justice for all, has the interests of victims and witnesses at its heart and which inspires the trust and confidence of the people it serves." Some of the core proposals are: the introduction of Community Prosecutors to increase understanding of community concerns and reflect those concerns when making case decisions; feeding community views directly into the justice process through Community Impact Statements to ensure local people’s views are more visible to crime and justice service providers, then demonstrating how these views were used; giving local people a say in the type of work that should be undertaken as Community Payback through Citizens Panels; extending Community Justice principles to more areas using innovative, partially co-located or virtual problem-solving teams which would come together to work on suitable cases in their area; and establishing a network of Community Engagement Leads located in Local Criminal Justice Boards to pull together information and community engagement activity and better support neighbourhood policing so that people know when, where and how they can engage with criminal justice services in their area. Responses to the consultation, which can be made online or submitted by email or post, should be submitted by Friday 31 July 2009.

Attorney General and previous winners to launch 2009 Justice Awards

The Attorney General, Baroness Scotland, will formally launch this year’s Justice Awards at a special reception for sponsors to be held at the Home Office. The Chief Executive of OCJR, Sharon White, will also attend the event, taking place on Thursday 14 May. In addition, previous winners will be available to talk about the experience of receiving an award and an exhibition showcasing the work of previous sponsors and winners will be taking place. Now in its sixth successive year, this is a national scheme recognising excellence and rewarding frontline staff and volunteers who do indeed go the extra mile. We would like as many people as possible, from all areas the CJS, to actively participate in the awards. What can I do?

Give some thought to Volunteers' Week

Volunteers make a major contribution to the CJS as both the ‘Engaging Communities in Criminal Justice’ Green Paper (see above) and the Neuberger report (see last month’s CJS Alert) fully acknowledge. To celebrate their achievements, both in and out of the CJS, a number of volunteering organisations have come together for Volunteers’ Week, which is taking place from Monday 1 to Sunday 7 June. The week throws a spotlight on the work of volunteers and the contribution they make to their communities. It also provides an opportunity for the general public to get involved and become volunteers themselves. Registered users to the Volunteers’ Week website can access useful materials if they are holding reward, recognition or recruitment events during the week.

A week long focus on tackling drugs nationally starts June 8

National Tackling Drugs week, which takes place from Monday 8 until Friday 12 June is a Home Office initiative which aims to highlight the work of local police and criminal justice agencies in tackling drugs and drug related crime within communities, raise public confidence and demonstrate an understanding of local concerns. Local agencies are playing their part by organising a string of community events locally, from meetings with police and agencies through to open days and exhibitions in treatment centres. The launch of the Tackling Drugs Changing Lives Awards will take place as well. More resources for the week, including a handbook, are available online.

Funding boost will benefit victims of sexual assault

The Government is providing an extra £1.8m to set up more sexual assault referral centres (SARCs) for victims of sexual assault and rape and provide independent help from specially trained counsellors. The centres play a dual role, offering care for victims and assisting investigators in building a successful case. The new funding will be used to improve existing centres and build new centres – the Government is committed to having a SARC in every police force area by 2011. To help police and prosecutors investigating rape cases, there are also plans to ensure that victims see a specially trained police officer within an hour of reporting a crime, training for officers on what to do when a rape is reported and regular monitoring and assessment of the handling of rape cases by the police and Crown Prosecution Service by a Rape Performance Group.

Young witnesses support guidance a helping hand to LCJBs

New guidance on supporting young witnesses, entitled 'It's in your hands', has been published and is available online. Produced by the Government in consultation with Local Safeguarding Children’s Boards (LSCBs), it will enable Local Criminal Justice Boards to provide support services for young witnesses in line with best practice. The guidance includes practical advice on setting up a young witness support scheme, real life examples of young witness practice in action, a list of free resources available to support and prepare young witnesses for their time in court and an examination of the responsibilities of LCJBs, LSCBs and Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships. Ninety six per cent of young witnesses said the support they received made them more confident about going to court and ninety per cent of their parents or carers said a supporter made a lot of difference, research by OCJR has shown. Prosecutors and other CJS staff were also more confident that youngsters could give evidence effectively. More information.