Mediations and negotiations in place of imprisonment urgent promotion of public understanding
Experts in international justice say the restorative justice process has made slow progress due to a lack of public understanding. They therefore recommend that governments around the world integrate restorative justice into their national strategy, invest in human resources and research, and promote interagency cooperation. Canada’s experience reveals that flexible judicial system and local participation are key to success. TIJ, meanwhile, expresses firm support for restorative justice, rule of law, and sustainable development.
Prof. Dr. Kittipong Kittayarak, executive director of Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ), says, “The emergence of COVID-19 pandemic has exposed problems that are hidden in the current judicial system, especially prison overcrowding. Policy makers and criminal-justice officials therefore should consider and promote new judicial concepts and paradigms such as Restorative Justice, which can be done via non-custodial measures.”
Restorative Justice constitutes an efficient preventative measure for the reduction of legal cases and the prevention or easing of prison overcrowding – a big problem facing many countries. Restorative Justice, moreover, is in line with the principles of human rights and public health. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) floated this concept and first drafted a handbook on restorative justice in 2000.
Presently, the original handbook has been reviewed and revised into the Handbook on Restorative Justice Programs Second Edition. The official launch of the new edition took place at a time when the world was worried about criminal-justice problems that emerged during the COVID-19 outbreak. Featuring restorative-justice content, the handbook presents good practices of restorative justice programs in their design and application, the mobilisation of community assets, program monitoring and evaluation. It also has information and examples that will be useful in the development of new programs in a variety of social, cultural and legal contexts.
“Restorative Justice has been a growingly important concept and measure in the rule-of-law development, as it engages victims, offenders, and community representatives in talks to explore solutions together. The end results are the repair of damage and bringing both victims and offenders back to society. With restorative justice, the rights of the victims are at the heart of criminal justice process. Restorative justice, moreover, reinvigorates the ties between the rule of law and sustainable development,” Prof. Dr. Kittipong says.
Ms. Jee Aei Lee, crime prevention and criminal justice officer of the UNODC, says, “The new handbook gives insight into concepts, principles and progress in the application of restorative justice around the world. Included is the guidance on how to apply restorative justice to serious cases such as intimate partner violence and sexual violence which pose concerns about the integration of restorative justice into mainstream justice.” She points out that the revised handbook also highlights factors behind successful restorative justice programs as well as the duty of parties involved namely victims, offenders, community representatives and mediators.
Restorative justice’s slow progress over 16 years
Mr. Yvon Dandurand, an advisor to drafters of the restorative justice handbook and a senior associate at the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy, says, “Over the past 16 years, many countries have applied restorative justice at national level with the scope covering both juvenile and adult offenders. Yet, it is clear that the implementation of restorative justice in the world’s mainstream judicial process has progressed slower than expected as a result of prevalent public response to the concept.”
He emphasises that a key factor for the successful implementation of restorative justice is the integration of the concept into national strategy and roadmaps with the concept well-blended into the mainstream judicial system.
In order for restorative justice to win public acceptance, it is necessary to raise public awareness of its benefits and build public confidence in alternative justice. Moreover, training must be provided for judicial officials, particularly police officers who are at the frontline of handling legal proceedings. All these efforts must go ahead in a systematic manner.
“The application of restorative justice has no shortcut. It takes time in reviewing and exploring procedures to achieve success step by step. So, it requires long-term commitment to promoting this concept on a wide scale,” Mr. Dandurand explains.
Governments nudged to “invest” in alternative justice
Mr. Tim Chapman, chair of the European Forum on Restorative Justice, says, “Governments and judicial agencies of all countries should study more about restorative justice for the advancement of the concept. Today, it is clear that the use of restorative justice alongside the mainstream justice system reduces the number of prosecuted defendants, the number of victims, their mental-rehabilitation period, the number of prisoners, and the budget needed for imprisonment.”
Another key factor for the application of restorative justice is investment by the governments in creating public awareness of the concept, funding relevant research and promoting cooperation among various sectors. Investments in human resources, in particular, have crucial importance to achieve efficiency and effectiveness.
Canada says local participation is key to success
Mrs. Marilou Reeve, a counsel for criminal-justice policies at the Canada’s Department of Justice, says, “Canada ranks among countries trying to push restorative-justice principle into mainstream judicial system. Canada’s successful integration of restorative justice lies with its sheer size, its diverse population, cooperation from all sectors, and importantly its flexible judicial system that allows local authorities to apply federal criminal-procedure laws to their context. Such an approach holds the key to fostering cooperation and coordination among different judicial districts.”
Canada’s local agencies have been promoting restorative justice paving the way for restorative justice programs to materialise in all parts of the country with public acceptance. Indigenous people’s engagement in Canada also plays an extremely important role in restorative-justice programs or alternative justice that takes into account local values and local social, economic and cultural contexts.
Several researches suggest restorative justice can apply to all types of crimes. The graver the crimes and the greater the harm done, the more efficient restorative justice is in repairing and remedying. Mrs. Reeve adds that, “The ongoing pandemic has reminded us to review our response to crimes and pay more attention to restorative justice as a more effective approach.”