Rethinking Sentencing - motion carried

That this Synod:

1. commend the report Rethinking Sentencing as a valuable contribution to the debate over penal policy;
2.  welcome Her Majesty’s Government’s proposals to promote and develop restorative justice as a significant feature of its strategy to limit reoffending;
3. express dismay at the ever-rising prison population, which limits the effectiveness of programmes to reduce reoffending, to rehabilitate offenders, and provide healing for victims of crime;
4. reaffirm the ministry of Christians within the criminal justice system, especially those in Prison Service Chaplaincy, the Churches’ Criminal Justice Forum (CCJF), the lay magistracy and the many voluntary Christian organizations working with offenders and victims; and
5. encourage Church members to embrace criminal justice as a cause for prayer and Christian concern and – where able – to involve themselves in practical initiatives.