Peer Courts

[Hope]

A police officer is planning a pilot project to try and transform the way some young criminals are dealt with.

Hampshire PC Mark Walsh hopes to set up a scheme so young people can decide punishments for peers committing their first crime - if it is a minor offence.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-21522479

This article dates from 2013.  On this morning's BBC Breakfast programme, Mark Walsh was interviewed about the new Peer Court that has been set up in Hampshire, and - if I understood the report correctly - held its first hearing recently.

The idea is that low-level 1st time youth 'crime' should be dealt with this court, with the result that a young person doesn't get a criminal record at this point; (yes, that's a very simplified explanation of the system).

Any thoughts?

Does it bring back the story of Summerhill School for anyone?

[splashscuba]

I think the goal of any criminal justice system should be two-fold:

• To provide some recompense and / or Closure to victims
• To try to prevent re-offending

Anything that helps these should be applauded. I'd like to see this tried for a period and then reviewed for success.

[Hope]

I think the goal of any criminal justice system should be two-fold:

• To provide some recompense and / or Closure to victims
• To try to prevent re-offending

Anything that helps these should be applauded. I'd like to see this tried for a period and then reviewed for success.

Just for your info, splash, it has been used in some (not sure whether all) states in the US for up to 15 years.  It appears to have been largely successful there - though transferring an idea like this across the pond doesn't automatically mean that it will work here.

[Rhiannon]

Given that it's well known that young people tend to respect each other more than what they perceive to be out of touch authority figures, this seems like a good idea to me.

[Harrowby Hall]

Wot Rhi sed.

[Hope]

However, the experience of Summerhill School was that their equivalent of a Peer Court was stricter and perhaps even harsher on wrong-doers than the adults involved in the school anticipated.  Whether this had anything to do with the fact that the young people involved also made the rules to some degree I'm not sure.  I haven't read the Wikipedia entry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summerhill_School in detail, but did read A.S.Neill's book as part of my teacher training course.