Community Justice Scotland (CJS) is required to publish an annual report, drawn from local area reports, structured around progress towards the national outcomes. This report is laid in the Scottish Parliament for Scottish Ministers.
This is a new model for community justice. During the first year, each local authority area established a Community Justice Partnership (‘partnership’) and appointed a lead officer, a role that is crucial in driving community justice improvement. Every area produced a local plan and progressed activity to improve outcomes for people in their area.
The creation of CJS as a non-departmental public body to support the new model allowed, for the first time, a nationwide overview of all community justice-related activity.
It is clear that local areas across Scotland have understood the importance of defining community justice and of scoping both current and potential methods of communicating positive messages to services and communities.
This increased awareness of community justice must now progress towards a stronger representation from people affected by the justice system in local decision-making groups, and more effective engagement with people and groups in local communities.