Victims & Restorative Justice
Restorative Justice can provide opportunities for those directly affected by an offence (victim, offender, and members of the community) to communicate through a restorative process and agree how to deal with the offence and its consequences.
There are a number of ways that restorative approaches are delivered through the Youth Justice system in Leicestershire. These are:
- A letter of explanation from the young person
- The victim of the offence having a say in what type of reparation they would like the young person to complete. Examples of this include working for a chosen charity or completing environmental work. Reparation is unpaid work completed by the young offender for the benefit of the community
- Direct reparation to the victim of the offence, for example repairing a wall that was damaged by the offender
- Attending a Community Panel Meeting, where the victim can meet the offender and explain the impact their offending has had on them
- Mediation, where the victim can ask for answers to their questions about the offence to be put to the offender.
Leicestershire Youth Offending Service takes victim safety very seriously and all participation in any restorative approach is completely voluntary on the victim’s behalf.
Examples of reparation that has been completed by young offenders in Leicestershire includes; working at the Salvation Army, painting a church hall, making bird boxes and the money raised from their sale going to charity, helping at older people's luncheon clubs.
Leicestershire Youth Offending Service have also created a leaflet which contains further information - Restorative Justice Information for Victims of Youth Crime (PDF Document 630kb)
Please note that the contact details in the pdf documents are out of date. Please use the contact details given at the bottom of this page.
If you would like the Youth Offending Service to help with a project as reparation please e-mail youthoffendingservice@leics.gov.uk
Page Last Updated: 13 May 2013
