Is it time to rethink our criminal justice system and 'do things differently'?

Is reform within our justice system possible and would a radical overhaul of the current legal system ensure better outcomes for all those involved within?

These are the questions the citizens of the UK ask themselves on a regular basis, therefore, is it time for change?

Criminal justice reform – 17 policies in order to ensure a balanced and new approach to society:

1. Introduce a tax-payer-funded prisoner ‘community integration’ scheme over 5 years – seek to release 17,800 prisoners per year over a 5-year period (89,000 in total) in order to reduce state funding on the prison service from £5.5 billion to £0.00. In order to give those released the best chance of reintegration, introduce a £35,000.00 per year ‘basic income’, costing £3.15 billion a year by year 5.

2. Introduce mandatory restorative justice schemes for all involved within the criminal justice system – introduce a forgiveness-based system based on healing and understanding rather than revenge, punishment, and envy of the ‘what could have been’ mindsets.

3. Assign a 24/7 community ‘support buddy’ for all prisoners released under the ‘community integration scheme for a period of time parell to the sentence they would have served if they were imprisoned.

4. Reform the court’s system across the UK and introduce a ‘peer review’ panel – such a panel would consist of 50% true ‘peers’, meaning family, friends, and colleagues; the remaining 50% would consist of mental health experts who would personally oversee the case of the accused in order to determine the best outcome for all involved in the pursuit of ‘integration’.

5. Reduce funding of the UK ‘policing’ system by 100%, or £17.2 billion (some of the costs to pay for the ‘support buddy’ scheme), and instead transition to a ‘community peer’ scheme whereby those who wish to report wrongdoing will attend 4 fully paid for monthly individual appointments (44 in total over a year) to discuss what they allege (ie. How do they feel about what happened and how to address and help aide in the pursuit of healing. The accuser will be subsided £100.00 for each appointment they attend, or £4,800.00 in total.

6. Introduce a ‘community peer’ scheme for those accused of wrongdoing. Introduce a system of mandatory daily appointments (minimum of 1 hour) for those who are accused of crimes for a period of time which would be parrel to the sentence they were given. Introduce a subsidy of £50.00 per appointment in order to incentive attendance and promote rehabilitation.

7. Introduce an ‘exposure therapy’ type system whereby the victim of a crime, or their family and friends, will be permitted to attend (if they wish) 6 in-person appointments (subsided payment of £250.00 per person per appointment made to the individuals) in order to discuss with the person(s) accused/convicted of wrongdoing what happened and seek to form a pathway to forgiveness for the sake of the victims of crime.

8. Place more of an emphasis on community resolution by introducing community discussion meetings – a panel made up of 6 specialist members of a local community who will invite both those who are victims and the those accused/convicted of a crimes such as harassment, stalking, coercive and controlling behaviour and domestic abuse related incidents to discuss how best to aide in the resolution of disputes in future.

9. Introduce a ‘reflection’ zone whereby those who wish to discuss offences in detail for closure and personal assessment will be able to do so without fear of prosecution.

10. After 12 months, those convicted of wrongdoing will be able to apply for a ‘fresh start’ review whereby an offenders record is wiped in order to prevent the feeling of being held back and aide in the pursuit of community reintegration – this policy would only be permissible once the convicted has attended a full course of ‘restorative justice’ and been reviewed by a panel of mental health experts.

11. Introduce a society ‘retribution’ fund whereby those who are victims (adult age) of crimes will be asked to contribute a minimum of £50.00 towards a fund that aids in the rehabilitation of those convicted of wrongdoing – this ‘contribution’ will also be offset by 6 months off work for the victim of a crime up a maximum of £2,500.00 per month.

12. Introduce community ‘empowerment and understanding’ schemes whereby those who are convicted of crimes, those who are victims and the general public will be able to select a total of 65,000 (100 per consistency – 650 in total) people in order aide in the discussion surrounding rehabilitation, community reintegration and healing the wounds caused by imprisonment – those who work under the scheme will each be paid £65,000.00 a year (£4.5 billion in total) and in order to prevent bias against vulnerable grounds, 50% will come from those convicted of crimes, 25% the general public and 25% victims of crimes.

13. Seek to enhance community representation by promoting multiculturalism in order to diversify and promote healing within the country on the whole – seek to boost rep. within the UK by boosting the size of underrepresented communities by 10,000,000 in total; work with all countries in order to issue ‘societal reparations residency passes’ over a 5 year period, 2 million passes per year over 5 years – issue a 1 time community integration payment to reach who comes to the UK of £25,000.00 for a total of £50 billion per year, or £250 billion worth of human capital investment over 5.

14. Seek to expand the chance of re-offending by offering £5,000.00 payments to those who end up involved in the justice system providing they partake in 12 months’ worth of restorative justice.

15. Reform the ‘arrests’ process in order to move over to a voluntary system of community judgement whereby those accused of crimes will asked to attend a panel of their peers in order to discuss the impacts of their crimes on the local community in order to seek a resolution in order to prevent further offending – if the accuse attends the panel, they will be offended a £500.00 fee and up to £25,000 worth of funding per year will be provided for the relocation and subsiding wages of the accused in order to encourage employment.

16. Introduce ‘friendship’ schemes for those convicted of wrongdoing in order to promote inclusivity, prevent loneliness and enhance rehabilitation – provide members of the community with up to 1 year of subsided wages (up to a maximum of £3,200.00 per month) in order to support those convicted of wrongdoing and prevent further offending.

17. Promote new forms of ‘rehabilitation’ by providing up to £25,000 worth of ‘failure to integrate funding for offenders who fail to participate in previous schemes – provide in-person examples in order countries of ‘what could have happened by showing offenders the prison system in order to provide a form of ‘shock therapy’ and reduce the chance of reoffending amongst future generations; this scheme will pay for the funding for travel (flights or otherwise), accommodation, food and supervision.