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How do we talk about community justice?

NEWS | 16th February 2022

Community Justice Scotland is delighted to announce the launch of two new resources.

A free, framing toolkit is now available to support people and organisations shape how they speak, write and communicate about community justice in ways that have the potential to increase public awareness and confidence in it as a sentencing option. This is accompanied by a new national image library with real-life photographs of community justice. The new resources are designed to help everyone working in the sector talk about community justice in a consistent, easy to understand way that gets across its benefits and value to all.

So, how can we frame community justice? 

Community justice is where people who have broken the law are held to account and supported to reconnect and contribute to their communities.

Where it is safe to do so, people who commit certain crimes receive community-based sentences. This can include treatment for underlying issues such as drug or alcohol addiction, unpaid work, fines and compensation or restrictions of liberty such as electronic tagging and curfews.

The evidence shows community justice can help people stop breaking the law again leading to fewer victims and safer communities.

The photo bank of images, hosted on Flickr, captures real-life images of justice in the community across Scotland including recovery and rehabilitation services, unpaid work projects and restrictions of liberty such as electronic tagging. The images are free to download for use in local and national communications.

Images from the CJS Flickr bank

Download links below for both the brief and full versions of the framing toolkit.