January 2006 Edition
Over the last year, we have seen growing interest in and implementation of restorative justice processes around the world. This includes gatherings for experts in the burgeoning Latin American restorative justice movement, programme updates from different countries, and programme evaluations. The articles below are in the order they appeared on the website since January 2005.
Introducing Restorative Justice in the Ukrainian Legal System
The Ukrainian Centre for Common Ground is a non-governmental organization working to build capacity for constructive conflict resolution. Since 2003, it has been engaged in an initiative to introduce restorative justice into the Ukrainian justice system. The project includes training mediators in victim offender mediation and policy makers in restorative justice. Roman Koval and Vira Zemlyanska provide this update on the project's progress.
New Court for Aboriginal Youth
In late 2004, new legislation created a Children’s Koori Court in the Australian state of Victoria. The Children and Young Persons (Koori Court) Act 2004 augments 1989 legislation, which established specialized Children’s courts. With this new initiative, the government is attempting to create a less formal, more culturally relevant justice experience for young aboriginal offenders, their families, and community.
Conferencing Serious Juvenile Delinquents in Belgium
From November 2000 to October 2003, youth courts in Belgium piloted the use of the New Zealand model of Family Group Conferencing.
Restorative Justice Symposium in Cali, Colombia
From February 9 – 12, 2005, 1000 people attended the symposium Justicia Restaurative y Paz en Colombia (Restorative Justice and Peace in Colombia). Invited speakers included Colombians and international guests, including a delegation of six South Africans, led by Archbishop Desmund Tutu.
Introducing Restorative Justice in Serbia and Montenegro.
In 2003, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) office in Belgrade realized that many of the children they worked with in their child protection programmes in Serbia and Montenegro were also in trouble with the law. A study group was formed to look into the conditions faced by these young people and to proposed ways of moving forward. The group settled on restorative justice as a useful approach for dealing with those conditions and UNICEF undertook a project to develop restorative justice programmes for working with young offenders. A first step was to request training in restorative justice and its applications to youth justice.
Waging Peace in Nicaragua
In the 1980s, a small group of pastors decided to work toward ending the civil war engulfing their country. Since that time, the work of these peace commissions has adapted as the needs of their local communities changes. This includes providing reintegration services for ex-combatants in the post-war period and their current work of resolving conflicts and responding to crime. The remaining peace commissioners are now looking to restorative justice theory to inform their work. Tracey King, a student in the Conflict Transformation Programme at Eastern Mennonite University, provides an overview of the work undertaken by the peace commissions since their inception.
Family Group Conferencing in Norway: Development and Status
Since the mid-1990’s, family group conferencing has become a part of the child welfare landscape in Norway. Associate Professor Liv Schjelderup and Assistant Professor Cecilie More of the University of Stavanger, Norway provide this overview of the development and use of this intervention.
Evaluating Restorative Programmes: Reports from Two Countries
With the growing use of restorative processes, issues of effectiveness and best practices are being debated. Research and evaluation are keys to understanding these issues. At the same time, evaluation brings up questions of appropriate performance measures and goals for restorative justice programmes. Three recent studies, one from the United Kingdom and two from New Zealand, address these issues.
Restorative Justice in Thailand: Lessons Learned
The Thai government began experimenting with restorative practices in 2003 with the implementation of family group conferences for juvenile offenders. In 2004, the probation services began a pilot project using restorative justice in 11 probation offices. Angkana Boonsit from the Thai probation Department shares her experiences and lessons learned in implementing restorative justice in Thai cultural setting. This speech was originally given at the at the ‘Restorative Justice in Emerging Countries’ ancillary session at the 11th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.
Why Change a Good Thing?
Restorative Justice Online receives a large number of visitors each day. It is the highest ranked website on the topic, according to Google. But with the growth of restorative justice, we found that the old format and software would soon become impediments. We think that the temporary inconvenience of getting to know the new site will be well worth it to you.
Court-Referred Pilot Project Evaluation Released
The New Zealand Ministry of Justice recently released the findings of an evaluation study of a pilot project that ran from 2001-2004. The evaluation showed positive results but also recommended changes. This article briefly describes the project and the evaluation findings.
Transforming Attitudes Towards Offending
The Sycamore Tree Project® is an in-prison programme bringing unrelated victims and offenders together for conversations about crime. The programme allows them to reflect together on the consequences of crime and the steps needed to address the harm that has resulted.
A Restorative Justice Audit of the Chinese Criminal Justice System
The Chinese Criminal Justice System is very different from Western models. While it is often characterized as punitive and retributive, the Chinese system does involve some restorative elements. Xinzhou Zhang, a Chinese police officer, prepared this audit while earning his Msc in Criminal Justice and Public Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
New Zealanders Awarded the 2005 International Prize for Restorative Justice
Kim Workman and Jackie Katounas were awarded the 2005 International Prize for Restorative Justice. The Prize recognizes significant contributions to advancing restorative justice around the world. It is presented every two years by the Centre for Justice and Reconciliation at Prison Fellowship International (PFI) and is made possible by a gift from Prison Fellowship Canada. The winners were announced during PFI’s International Council Meeting, held August 14-17 in Hong Kong.
Restorative Justice in Nova Scotia
The Nova Scotia Restorative Justice (NSRJ) programme started in 1999 with the objective of making restorative justice as the normal response to crime in that Province. Don Clairmont, director of the Atlantic Institute and programme evaluator, provides this overview of the project and its accomplishments.
Two Recent Conferences in Latin America
The growing interest in restorative justice in Latin America has resulted in two recent conferences on the subject. These conferences provide a glimpse at the strength of the restorative justice movement in that region.
Restorative Discipline in Universities
In fall 2005, Fresno Pacific University implemented a restorative discipline policy to respond to conflict and rule infractions involving students. Built on the principles of restorative justice, the process seeks to provide fair, just and holistic responses to these infractions. The process consists of four stages of increasing levels of formality.
RSVP: Restorative Justice in a County Jail
In 2004, the San Francisco Sheriff's Department received an Innovations in American Government award for its Resolve to Stop the Violence Project (RSVP). This programme immerses men with a history of violence into an environment that helps them understand the impact of their offending and learn alternatives to violent behaviour. Inspired by the principles of restorative justice, RSVP addresses the needs of offenders, victims, and the community in responding to and preventing violence.
