Wandsworth - home to the first Commuity Justice Court

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Aiming to boost confidence in the criminal justice system in Roehampton & West Putney

The first Community Justice court in London has opened for business in Wandsworth to help solve problems caused by offending in the borough.

Based at South Western Magistrates’ Court, it will target Roehampton and West Putney areas with the aim of improving the quality of life locally and increasing confidence in the criminal justice system among those who live and work in Wandsworth. This part of Wandsworth was chosen because of strong local partnership working brought about by regeneration of the area.  

Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Jack Straw said: “Wandsworth Community Justice Court is the first of its kind in the capital. Like other, tailor made justice courts around the country, it seeks to bring a bold new way of dispensing justice to the local community.  Community involvement in the justice system aims to make a real difference to the lives of local people, the effectiveness of the courts and dealing with the underlying problems of offenders so that they don’t re-offend.

"No-one knows more about local crime and anti-social behaviour than local people who live with it. To break the cycle of re-offending Wandsworth will use a problem solving approach, looking at the offending behaviour and attempting to deal with this as part of sentencing. When everyone works closely together and tries new approaches to reducing crime there is a knock on effect that goes right the way through the criminal justice process - from when someone is charged to the outcome of the court case and beyond.”

Wandsworth is one of three Community Justice courts being established and run in London by the London Criminal Justice Board.  Locally, criminal and anti-social behaviour will be tackled jointly by the Local Authority, the borough’s criminal justice agencies, Victim Support, other related services, voluntary organisations and community groups with the Community Justice court as a pivotal part of their work.  

The Mayor of Wandsworth, Stuart Thom pictured left, explained: “Community Justice is flexible – we can adapt it to the particular circumstances of local people in the way that best works for them. Wandsworth is proud to be taking the lead in London in bringing the justice system and the community together through Community Justice.”

 

Caroline Joy, Lead Magistrate for the Community Justice project, said: “By building on the Court’s partnership with local agencies we hope to better tailor the sentences we pass to the needs of the community and to the rehabilitation of offenders. We think it’s important that our work should be more visible to local people.”

The court’s focus will be two-fold: to coordinate and consolidate existing efforts to reduce crime and obtain the support of local communities in the delivery of justice by ensuring it is more visible and better understood. 

The District Judge and magistrates will be meeting with members of the community to find out what their concerns are, and to understand the impact of offending on local residents and small businesses.

A feature of the work is the Community Payback Scheme, a programme which runs right across London, where local people are encouraged to have their say in what projects should benefit from unpaid work. Communities will then be able to see the benefit of offenders ‘paying back’ to the community as part of their sentence. This might include removing graffiti, supporting the Council’s work in removing rubbish off the streets and improving open spaces.

The Community Justice court is designed to deal with all criminal cases from the community justice catchment area.  The court will sit as an adult court only. Young people will continue to have their cases heard at a specialist youth court in Balham. 

Cases which will be dealt with by the court include a full range of offences namely harassment, theft, possession of drugs, breaches of ASBO (Anti-Social Behaviour Order), breaches of community order, bail or drug treatment orders, failures to appear, fraud, Road Traffic Act offences, assault, criminal damage, bail offenders, assault of a PC, driving while disqualified and domestic violence cases.

The Community Justice court in Wandsworth can bring back offenders to the court to review the progress of their community sentences, a power which is unique to community justice courts. This increased oversight by the judge or magistrates will bring more responsibility and encouragement for offenders to comply with the conditions of the sentence or be dealt with by the court for breaches of community orders.  It will also give the court the opportunity both to support the offender as they face challenges as well as adapt the conditions of the sentence if necessary.

November 8, 2007