Restorative Practice Resources Tagged With: justice system

This report sets out some of the current uses of restorative justice and restorative practices across England and Wales. In its recommendations, it identifies 9 key suggestions for what more can be done to increase performance and outcomes.

Prepared by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Restorative Justice, this report is based on written evidence received from 57 services providers, practitioners, national organisations and academics, and from ten oral evidence sessions with key stakeholders and those with lived experience of restorative justice.

Notes for an address by The Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould, PC, QC, MP Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, September 13, 2018

Extract: The first initiative is expanding the use of restorative justice, which emphasizes repairing the relationship between the victim and the offender. Restorative justice is focused more on collaboration and inclusivity, and is often more culturally relevant and responsive to specific communities. Victims have a powerful voice, and this process allows them to be heard and to heal, while at the same time, holding the offender accountable for their actions.

In this sense, I sometimes view restorative justice as acting as a kind of “circuit-breaker” from the cycle that so many find themselves caught in. While restorative justice has been part of Canada’s criminal justice system for over 40 years, and has proven effective over that period, it is still not widely available across the country.

A 2011 Department of Justice Canada report found that Indigenous people who completed a community-based alternative to mainstream justice, such as restorative justice, were significantly less likely to re-offend than those who did not. I am committed to expanding this resource so it can be more widely used and accepted across the country.

 The purpose of the handbook is to provide more in-depth information about restorative justice for professionals working with offenders, ex-offenders, or people at risk of violent radicalisation and group violence. Restorative justice is not in opposition to current criminal justice practices, but complementary. It has proven to provide the justice system with alternative approaches that when implemented properly can increase victim satisfaction, reduce re-o ending, and increase community cohesion. Throughout the handbook, different aspects of violent radicalisation and restorative justice are presented, from a general introduction of the topic to example of trauma informed practice. This information is presented in six modules, each of which concludes with a brief quiz.

In my conversations with other educators, there is usually confusion around the definition of restorative practices due to the common emphasis placed on restorative justice, which focuses on repairing relationships when harm has occurred as an alternative to punitive approaches to discipline. In contrast, restorative practices focus on not only repairing, but also building and strengthening relationships and social connections within communities.

The mainstream conception of restorative justice is credited to Howard Zehr and is thought to have originated within the criminal justice system in the 1970s. However, a 2017 report from the Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice, notes the growing demand from the field that practitioners acknowledge many of the values and practices of restorative justice come directly from Indigenous communities in North America and across the globe.

'The Justice Reform Initiative is an alliance of people who share long-standing professional experience, lived experience and/or expert knowledge of the justice system, who are further supported by a movement of Australians of goodwill from across the country and across the political spectrum.

We believe jailing is failing and that there is an urgent need to reduce the number of people in Australian prisons. We believe that the over-use of prisons is fundamentally harmful to those in prison, their family and friends, and the broader community.

We believe that prisons are ineffective as a deterrent, ineffective at reducing crime, and ineffective at addressing the drivers of criminal justice system involvement. We believe that the over-use of incarceration is a waste of human potential and a misuse of taxpayer dollars.

The evidence shows that the majority of people entering prison usually arrive there because of an underpinning cycle of disadvantage and that prison both exacerbates and entrenches a broader cycle of disadvantage, which needs to be broken.

We believe the moment has come for change, with a combination of political, economic and social forces coalescing to create an opportunity to genuinely challenge and respond to our overreliance on incarceration – and offer up an alternative vision.'

This initiative aims to transform Newcastle into a restorative city by building social cohesion and healthy communities. Newcastle has pockets of disadvantage in relation to unemployment, income, education, housing, child welfare, and criminal justice.

The School of Law and Justice is initiating change by working with a growing network of community partners to support the city’s proposed social and cultural transformation.

In the criminal justice system, it is anticipated that there will be less offending, decreased recidivism, increased rehabilitation of offenders, and greater victim and offender satisfaction with the process.

Additionally, members of the community will be provided with skills to effectively build relationships and resolve disputes, which aim to result in greater wellbeing, social coherence, and improved educational and social outcomes. Workplaces and organisations will have improved communication skills, improved productivity, and strengthened relationships.

As a result, Newcastle will become a happier and safer city, where residents can address harm and inappropriate behaviour.

'The Restorative Research, Innovation and Education Lab (RRIELab), described by the school as the first ever international lab to concentrate on restorative justice, is located at Dalhousie University’s Schulich School of Law. Dalhousie University, supported by the Donald R. Sobey Foundation, established the lab to transform the justice system and to safeguard the health, safety and well-being of individuals and communities across Canada through a restorative approach, said the school’s announcement. The lab also aims to deal with institutional abuses and failures and to advance the development of restorative cities worldwide, the announcement states.'

'Dalhousie University is officially launching the first ever international lab focused on restorative justice, with the support of the Donald R. Sobey Foundation. The Restorative Research, Innovation & Education Lab (RRIELab), located in the Schulich School of Law, will be led by a fully funded chair held by Professor Jennifer Llewelyn, a distinguished global leader in restorative justice. The lab’s vision is to be a global centre of excellence that will accelerate the growth and development of a restorative approach to protect the health, safety and well-being of individuals and communities in Canada. The initial focus of the RRIELab will be on accelerating the growth and development of restorative justice as a key component to transform the justice system in Canada, as well as supporting the development of restorative cities around the world and responding to institutional abuses and failures.'

'Free the People is proud to bring you How to Love Your Enemy: A Restorative Justice Story. Winner of Best Feature and Best Director at the Front Range International Film Festival. A city in Colorado tries a different kind of justice system powerful enough to change the incarceration game of the U.S. Instead of locking up non-violent offenders, these advocates focus on the challenging but rewarding process of apology, forgiveness, and redemption that radically shifts our idea of justice and our part in it.'

The CIJ researches, translates, advocates & applies innovative/alternative ways to improve the justice system, with a particular focus on appropriate/non-adversarial dispute resolution, therapeutic jurisprudence & restorative justice

'The Centre for Innovative Justice researches, advocates and applies innovative ways to improve the justice system with a particular focus on therapeutic jurisprudence, restorative justice and non-adversarial dispute resolution.'

'Restorative justice brings together people who have committed a crime and the people that crime has affected in a conversation about the event. This can give a voice to the people involved and create a resolution and sense of peace between the victims and offenders of these crimes The team from Open Circle, a new restorative justice service at RMIT’s Centre for Innovative Justice, will engage in a discussion about restorative justice, how it approaches the work and some case studies which demonstrate how valuable the process can be to parties impacted by a crime or other harm.'

Restorative justice brings together people who have committed a crime and the people that crime has affected in a conversation about the event. This can give a voice to the people involved and create a resolution and sense of peace between the victims and offenders of these crimes

'We spend over thirteen billion dollars a year on this system in the name of public safety. In this time of pandemic, where our hospitals lack respirators, masks, and intensive care beds, the cost of our failure to create a criminal justice system focused on rehabilitation rather than punishment will be borne by the most vulnerable, both inside and outside of prison.'

'A panel of advocates and scholars discuss what restorative justice looks like and how it could potentially provide alternatives to the current criminal justice system. The panel featured Liz Porter-Merrill, restorative justice director for the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender; Mikayla Waters-Crittenton, executive assistant/program associate at Restorative Justice Project; and Shannon Sliva, assistant professor at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work. Professor Josh Bowers acted as moderator. This panel was part of the 2020 Shaping Justice conference, sponsored by UVA Law’s Mortimer Caplin Public Service Center and Program in Law and Public Service; the Public Interest Law Association; and numerous other student organizations. (University of Virginia School of Law, Feb. 7, 2020)'