Pre-court diversion seeks to offer a swift and meaningful response to low-level offending. Pre-court diversion operates in two ways: first, people who are arrested and likely to receive a formal out of court disposal can be diverted into either a less serious out of court disposal or an informal disposal; second, people who have been arrested and are likely to be prosecuted in court can be diverted into either a formal out of court disposal or an informal disposal. These schemes operate in a variety of different models across the country.

This toolkit is for any practitioner who is involved in, or considering creating, a pre-court diversion scheme for adults in contact with the criminal justice system.

Published in May 2020 by the Centre for Justice Innovation.