Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent steps he has taken to ensure that judges receive training in restorative justice.

To preserve the independence of the judiciary, the Lord Chief Justice (LCJ), the Senior President of the Tribunals, and the Chief Coroner have statutory responsibility for judicial training, under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, and Coroners and Justice Act 2009 respectively. These responsibilities are exercised through the Judicial College. The judiciary and professional staff in the Judicial College are responsible for the design, content, and delivery of judicial training.

The Judicial College uses sentencing exercises as part of both induction and continuation training. One of the topics covered in those exercises is restorative justice.