Community Justice - Concepts and Delivery

A roundtable discussion

Introduction

The lines of responsibility and accountability for "community justice" are becoming increasingly blurred, requiring greater collaboration between public authorities and other organisations to develop and implement joined-up solutions. Demoralised communities living in run-down or neglected built environments characterised by vandalism and high levels of antisocial behaviour need to know that the broader social issues will be tackled.

To encourage high-level interactive debate around community justice, the New Statesman and Fellows' Associates jointly organised a round-table discussion, held in Westminster on 12 November. The event took place with the kind support of Northgate Information Solutions.

The three central themes of the discussion were the differing and changing notions of community justice; how responsibilities can be recognised through public education and enforcement; and how, in a democracy, the community can genuinely be involved in promoting community justice. The questions raised ranged from "What does community justice mean?", through "What is the correct balance between help and punishment?", to "What do we mean by community involvement, and what is the proper balance between centralisation and local control and accountability?".
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