Changes to the Sentencing Act – restorative justice

The new section 24(a) of the Sentencing Act 2002 (effective as of 6 December 2014) means the court must adjourn proceedings to enable enquiries to be made as to whether a restorative justice process is appropriate. It applies if an offender has pleaded guilty, if there are one or more victims of the offence, and if no restorative justice has previously occurred in relation to that offending.

This applies to health and safety prosecutions in just the same way as it applies to what you normally think of as criminal offending. In practical terms it means that if you intend to plead guilty to a charge under the Health and Safety in Employment Act you need to be prepared to attend a restorative justice process with the victim (which could be the person injured and that person's family).