Honesty in sentencing

Our Focus

No automatic release from prison halfway or two-thirds of the way through a sentence.
Curfew or ROTL should not count towards prison time reduction.
There should be a sentence escalator for re-offending.

Gender Equality in the CJS

We must treat male and female offenders equally in the criminal justice system.
Approach sentencing for the same crimes in the same way, no reductions due to gender.
Scrap Female Offender Strategy.

Prison Works

No automatic release from prison halfway or two-thirds of the way through a sentence.
Curfew or ROTL should not count towards prison time reduction.
There should be a sentence escalator for re-offending.

Victims First

Putting victims before criminals.
All our work focuses on ensuring that justice is served for the benefit of the victim.
Criminals must not be treated like victims in the criminal justice system anymore.
Unduly Lenient Scheme has to be extended further.

Restore Justice campaigns for honesty in sentencing. We put victims first.

We want to restore the public's faith in our criminal justice system that it will not deal with criminals leniently. Every sentence handed down by the courts should be served in full, no half way release on licence, or one third off for the most dangerous criminals. Lessons must be learnt.

Evidence shows the need for a different, tougher approach than the one currently adopted in our criminal justice system. The focus has to be on punishment and prison time served in full, not releasing criminals early into the community hoping that the release will encourage them to rehabilitate quicker.

All custodial sentences have to be served in full as handed down by the courts. Two years must mean two years, for example.

Assaults on prison officers must be punished. Currently prisoners receive, on average, just 16 additional days to their existing sentence for assaulting a prison officer. The latest evidence shows that 31% of all assaults in prisons are on prison officers. Read our policy proposal in the Assaults on prison officers section.

Releasing criminals on licence or a tag into the community suggests that there is little belief that they will not re-offend as they should be closely monitored. Whilst this is currently considered part of the rehabilitation process and gradual integration to society, figures show that it has led to an increase in re-offending and it also does not automatically mean that the recalled offenders serve the rest of the sentence in prison.

Overcrowding cannot be solved by early release (or constantly moving inmates from prison to prison). We need more prison spaces. Nevertheless, our criminal justice system cannot be based on how many prison places we have.

Prison sentences must mean punishment and be a deterrent to re-offending.

There must be an equal approach to offenders regardless of gender. In the court of law everyone must be equal.

Our criminal justice system cannot be based on how many prison places we have.

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