East Middlesbrough was chosen because it had;
- a population the size of approximately 33,000 residents
- relatively high levels of anti social behaviour
- relatively high levels of low level crime such as graffiti and criminal damage.
- relatively high levels of deprivation and vulnerability
- established structures for community engagement
The East Middlesbrough Community Justice Initiative was launched on April 2007 with a modest budget to deliver the key principles of Community Justice. Located within Teesside Magistrates Courts, Court 16 became the specialist Community Justice Court dealing with all offences committed on the East Middlesbrough area but excluding Domestic Violence which were listed to the specialist court for offences of that nature.
The aims of the pilot project were to:
- reduce repeat offending and increase compliance with the orders of the court
- ensure that the Criminal Justice System is seen to be responsive to local people
- increase public confidence in the courts and criminal justice agencies
- identify those aspects of Community Justice which could be extended to other communities in Cleveland
- identify good practice that could support the development of new Community Justice initiatives elsewhere
A panel of magistrates was formed to deal with all cases in the Community Justice court. The panel was co-ordinated by a Deputy Chairman of the Teesside Bench, supported by a Court Legal Manager with authority delegated by the Justices’ Clerk. A District Judge was also a member of the panel. There was an informal panel of legal advisors, crown prosecutors and probation staff to maintain consistency within the court.
The processes and approaches which have been developed and tested in the East Middlesbrough Community Court and engagement with the communities served have been successful. There is strong evidence of collaborative working among the criminal justice agencies and key partners and this has been a firm foundation upon which to develop innovative practice and influence the wider roll out of Community Justice nationally. Middlesbrough is recognised as an area of good practice and continues to lead other areas in delivering the principles of Community Justice.
This could not have been achieved without the cooperation of the people of East Middlesbrough to whom we are grateful and they should be proud that East Middlesbrough has set the way forward for the rest of Cleveland, if not England and Wales – thank you.
Building upon the experience and success of the East Middlesbrough Initiative, plans were developed to deliver Community Justice and other Early Initiatives across the whole of Middlesbrough covering all 23 wards within the unitary authority area. A key aim of the initiatives is to continue to give communities the opportunity to have a voice in the court setting and for the Criminal Justice System and partner agencies to have an awareness of the issues around criminal and anti social behaviour at a local ward level and how the local community is affected by the actions of others.
