John Fassenfelt, chair of the association, told CYP Now that magistrates are “apprehensive” about the use of restorative justice options when sentencing young offenders, because of a lack of evidence on how the approach works and restrictions on sentencing options.
At the moment, restorative approaches can be used with a young offenders through referral orders. However, these are only used for 10-to 17-year olds who have pleaded guilty and are being convicted for the first time in court.
Fassenfelt argued that restorative sentencing options should be more widely available than is currently the case. He added that, as well as better evidence on the outcomes achieved through using restorative justice, magistrates need more training in the area, so that they are more likely to opt for restorative sentencing options.
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