SPECIAL COURTS IN THE US ARE USED AS A CONDUIT TO REACH THE HEART OF CRIME IN COMMUNITIES.

CHRIS BAKER ASKS WHETHER SUCH A STRATEGY WOULD WORK IN THE UK

It could be the beginning of the end of the adversarial approach to trials when it comes to minor offences relating to drugs or antisocial behaviour.

The mood in Whitehall is more in favour of US-style community courts, restorative justice and giving senior local public prosecutors the same powers as US district attorneys.

Home Secretary David Blunkett, Attorney-General Lord Goldsmith and the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, have started to sing from the same hymn sheet on the issue after some initial differences of opinion.

The first criminal justice conference, organised by the Home Office to thrash out ideas for how a pilot community justice centre (CJC) might work, was held early last month (see [2003] Gazette, 10 July, 5).

After a weekend of headlines in both the tabloids and broadsheets about crime, Prime Minister Tony Blair made a surprise appearance, although his comments about an FBI-style crime-fighting agency stole the headlines away from the CJCs under discussion.

Lord Woolf has become evangelical about the centres after he and Mr Blunkett visited Brooklyn's Red Hook project, a pioneering example of community justice in New York.

'We might be making a mistake in this country by not appreciating that the courts, and all those involved with dealing with less grave crimes, should primarily be focused on solving the problems of the community in which the crime took place,' he said at the conference.

'This is appropriate to a far greater extent in relation to such crimes than in the case of graver crimes where a clear message has to go out: "If you commit a serious offence, you will be punished."'

The Lord Chief Justice is anxious to point out that England and Wales has a community involvement many countries lack in the form of the magistrates' system.

But he contends it does not go far enough and more radical change is needed.

'Magistrates and judges in this jurisdiction do not get the sort of feedback that [Red Hook presiding judge] Alex Calabrese receives when he decides upon a community disposal,' he said.

'Except in the case of a drug testing and treatment order, a magistrate or judge has little involvement with that offender once that offender has been sentenced.

This needs to change - ongoing involvement helps both judges and offenders.'

At Red Hook, the judge has computerised records of how each offender has responded to previous orders, and can use this to produce bespoke sentences.

Criminal, housing and family courts have been combined to create what the Home Office likes to call a 'one-stop crime-busting shop'.

It also offers a completely different range of penalties, or treatments.

Judge Calabrese says: 'As a judge in a traditional court, I felt like an artist with two colours: in jail or out of jail.

At the justice centre, I have a whole palette of services and sanctions to choose from.

This means I can craft court orders that are individually tailored to each defendant rather than relying on a "one size fits all" approach.'

And, as Lord Woolf put it: 'Both the lawyer for the prosecution and the defence collaborate with Judge Calabrese in the interests of the offender and the community.

I believe the same thing should happen here - the adversarial approach is appropriate when dealing with serious offenders, but may not be appropriate for minor offences.'

This notion chimes with Lord Goldsmith's vision of boosting the role of local senior public prosecutors, so they are more in line with US district attorneys, a plan also backed by Mr Blunkett.

As well as a visit to Red Hook, the home secretary has witnessed the work of Baltimore's assistant state attorney, Jennifer Etheridge, on a pilot community prosecution programme.

The pilot deepens interaction between local people and state agencies while targeting 'nuisance' crimes such as public urination, prostitution and littering.

'You have to have interaction between the prosecutor and the community,' Ms Etheridge argues.

'You need to integrate community support into the courtroom.'

Actively pursuing the minor cases that often get overlooked by overworked and under-resourced traditional courts helps give a community a sense that crimes are being punished, she explains.

'We want to send the message that any crime that affects quality of life for the community will not be tolerated.'

As at Red Hook, a suspended sentence hanging over the perpetrator's head and/or community work, rehabilitation or training are common methods of punishment.

'Don't people deserve a chance to change their lives before they are locked up?' Judge Calabrese asks.

The CJC pilot will be launched in the UK later this year, but it has not yet been decided where.

'We have spent the last couple of months identifying a shortlist of possible locations for the first pilot CJC and gathering an evidence base to enable us to produce a set of recommendations for ministers to make a decision on locations,' a Home Office spokesman says.

The evidence includes annual caseloads, concentration of problems in particular areas, such as drug-related crime, and deprivation levels.

What is known is that the centre will have a courtroom around which criminal justice agencies and social services - such as drug treatment, training and mediation - will be based.

Following the Red Hook model, it will offer easy access to support for offenders in a bid to get them back on track.

It is hoped the centres could form part of the regeneration of deprived areas by restoring the population's faith in the justice system and getting them more involved in local initiatives.

Criminal law solicitors have given a cautious welcome to plans for CJCs and district attorney-style local prosecutors, but stress they must be involved every step of the way.

Rodney Warren, director of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association and chairman of the Law Society's access to justice committee, was one of the 350 delegates at the CJC conference.

'It is very interesting to get a wider debate rather than the narrow focus on how long the sentence should be, which is what we have been having until recently,' he says.

Mr Warren warns that any pilot will have to be adequately funded, or face failure.

'It's one thing to have all these ideas and to talk about them, but it's quite another thing entirely to make sure those ideas work,' he says.

'We always have this worry that this will be piloted on a shoestring - it's fundamentally important to make sure they have enough finance so they can work.'

The Law Society agrees.

'We welcome new initiatives aimed at crime prevention and problem solving, so long as they do not undermine the essential protections for defendants - especially those who assert their innocence,' a spokeswoman says.

'We think there is merit in trailing alternatives to the formal criminal justice system.'

But the Society urges the government to ensure that any model for the proposed centre is tested beforehand to check whether it is workable.

The spokeswoman points to the 'mistakes made during the expensive night courts pilot'.

The government and Britain's most senior judge both appear convinced that US initiatives on community justice such as Red Hook and community-based prosecutors such as Ms Etheridge work.

Since Red Hook opened, the number of residents who thought drugs were a major problem dropped by 31%, and the number of people who said they felt unsafe going to and from the district's subway station fell by nearly a quarter.

Ms Etheridge is convinced that her community prosecution service is well on its way to cutting antisocial behaviour in the Washington Village/Pigtown area of Baltimore by 5%.

These are the sorts of statistics politicians love to hear, and love to emulate.

Community justice is on its way to the UK, but the policy makers will have to be committed to funding it properly, and involving criminal solicitors, if it is to generate anything more than a couple of approving headlines.

Chris Baker is a freelance journalist