Why Restorative Justice? - Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

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Author’s Acknowledgements John Harding, one of the pioneers of restorative justice in Britain, has been extremely helpful. Turi Munthe came to me wanting television experience and found himself deeply immersed in restorative justice, helping to assemble the book. Felicity Luard and Ben Whitaker of the Gulbenkian Foundation gave me this stimulating commission, and my publishers Richard Johnson and Andy Fishwick at HarperCollins allowed me to interrupt my work on a longer critique of the justice system which has this concept as its conclusion. Guy Masters helpfully read the manuscript for errors. Marian Liebmann selflessly and generously fleshed out the text with essential references and useful information while editing the book extremely skilfully. I am most grateful for her substantial contribution. The dedication to Martin Wright, author of many seminal books in this area, only hints at his support in guiding me through the shoals of this sensitive area. The author and publishers would like to acknowledge the following organisations for providing case studies: Boughton Hall Youth Justice Service, Chester; Crime Concern Mediation and Reparation Service, South West Hampshire; Kent Intensive Supervision and Support Programme; Leeds Victim-Offender Unit; Maidstone Mediation Scheme; Mediation UK; Sheffield Victim/Offender Mediation Project; and Texas Victims Services. 6
Foreword Most criminal justice systems focus exclusively on the processing and punishing of offenders; achieving any improvement for the future of either victims or offenders unfortunately has little or no priority. Our present legal machinery often makes both victims and the local community feel they are sidelined if not irrelevant, and offenders are rarely made to confront the results of their crimes. Restorative justice aims to redress this balance, and at the same time achieve a more constructive longer-term outcome for the future of all concerned. It is one of the most hopeful and encouraging initiatives in the otherwise gloomy field of law and order. Family Group Conferencing has been successfully used since 1989 in New Zealand (the country which also helped to lead the world on votes for women and on ombudsmen). As Roger Graef describes in Chapter 3, its central feature is to bring young offenders and their victims together at structured meetings, alongside other people affected by the crime, and any witnesses and neighbours who may be relevant to a particular offence – in much the same way as the tribal setting for the justice dispensed by our ancestors. At the end, suitable reparation is agreed, whether a sincere apology and/or financial compensation or work in kind. The UK Branch of the Gulbenkian Foundation was enthusiastic about helping to fund two pilot projects in restorative justice in 1998. Under the recent Crime and Disorder Act, a range of new approaches is being tried in the UK to improve the youth justice system. At present it is estimated that only three per cent of young offenders are sentenced by courts, usually after long delays and too often unsuccessfully. The charity Bristol Mediation, which specialises in ‘new approaches to conflict resolution’, was asked to coordinate with the local police and social services a new multiagency project in Bristol, Victims and Offenders in Conferences (VOICES). 7
Page 1: Why Restorative Justice? Repairing
Page 5 and 6: Why Restorative Justice? Repairing
Page 7: Contents Author’s Acknowledgement
Page 11 and 12: Introduction Restorative justice is
Page 13 and 14: INTRODUCTION provide legal aid for
Page 15 and 16: Chapter 1 The Need for Change This
Page 17 and 18: trial comes months after the origin
Page 19 and 20: THE NEED FOR CHANGE others’ lives
Page 21 and 22: What harm was caused? What was its
Page 23 and 24: PRINCIPLES OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE C
Page 25 and 26: A BRIEF HISTORY The rise of victim
Page 27 and 28: In Family Group Conferences, juveni
Page 29 and 30: Chapter 4 The Victim The impact of
Page 31 and 32: THE VICTIM are haunted by the sense
Page 33 and 34: Claire Claire, a 38 year old single
Page 35 and 36: Chapter 5 The Offender Mediation is
Page 37 and 38: THE OFFENDER very inexact science:
Page 39 and 40: THE OFFENDER say how they had been
Page 41 and 42: THE COMMUNITY • Many lone-parent
Page 43 and 44: THE COMMUNITY children and animals,
Page 45 and 46: WHAT CHOICES ARE THERE? understanda
Page 47 and 48: WHAT CHOICES ARE THERE? The local I
Page 49 and 50: WHAT CHOICES ARE THERE? victims fru
Page 51 and 52: WHAT CHOICES ARE THERE? The French
Page 53 and 54: 3. Court-based, pre-conviction: the
Page 55 and 56: CURRENT SERVICES In the UK, restora
Page 57 and 58: Chapter 9 New Government Legislatio
Page 59 and 60:
meeting are the young person, their
Page 61 and 62:
THE FUTURE In Austria, if reparatio
Page 63 and 64:
THE FUTURE or by extending the Crim
Page 65 and 66:
Retributive and Restorative Justice
Page 67 and 68:
GLOSSARY Mediation (victim/offender
Page 69 and 70:
Further Reading Akester, K., Restor
Page 71 and 72:
Organisations Involved in Restorati
Page 73 and 74:
Index Aberdeen 30, 34 Action Plan O
Page 76:
Why Restorative Justice? Repairing
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Why Restorative Justice? - Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

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