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Restorative Justice Process

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Chapter 4
Restorative justice processes and programs and the Criminal justice system
1 Introduction
South Africa as in most countries in the world is still applying a retributive justice system. The accusatorial system is still dominating our courts whereby the accused person is in the Centre of interrogation and there is no or little concern regarding the victim of crime. In response to the challenges faced by the criminal justice system and simultaneously transforming the administration of justice, the Justice Crime Prevention and Security Cluster (JCPS) has adopted the Restorative Justice approach for several reasons including the fact that Restorative Justice is largely informed by indigenous and …show more content…

Restorative justice is about building communities of care around individuals while not condoning harmful behaviour; in other words, holding individuals accountable for their actions within systems of support. restorative justice is about addressing the hurts and needs of both victims and offenders in such a way that both parties, as well as the communities which they are part of, are healed.
The focus in the case of restorative justice is on the emotional and social disruption caused by misbehaviour. The focus is not on the misbehaviour itself, but rather on the consequences of the misbehaviour. The wrongdoing lies in the violation of people and interpersonal relationships and not in the breaking of the rules. Karp and Breslin emphasize that restorative justice is about disapproving of the transgression while valuing and supporting the transgressor's intrinsic …show more content…

The transgressor plays an inactive part, with no regard being had for the victim or community and with the authority figure actively measuring out the punishment. The transgressor thus becomes the object of punishment. In contrast, with the restorative justice approach, the transgressor is forced to participate actively in adjudicating the dispute. Accountability is therefore defined as understanding the impact of one’s actions, taking responsibility for one’s choices and suggesting ways to repair the harm. Since the transgressor's behaviour is seen as harm done to the victims, the transgressor and the community as a whole, the transgressor is obliged to repair the

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This process will ensure that each offender receives the proper punishment and that the community is satisfied with the decision. The offender-based models, retributive and utilitarian, does not help the victim recover. Restorative justice is designed

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Restorative justice is a very selective process, and can only truly work if both the victim and the offender agree to the terms of the conversation. In other words, strict vetting must be done on both the victim and the offender in order for restorative justice to occur. For this type of justice to actually be able to really work and bring about rehabilitation participation must be 100% voluntary otherwise it will fail. This among other things can be listed as a limitation of restorative justice. Another disadvantage is, that restorative justice cannot be implemented in all categories of crimes.

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This type of justice system is designed very differently when compared with the retributive justice system. The restorative justice system endeavours to bring the victim and the offender together and allow them to speak with each other in the hopes to support the healing process. It will enable the victims to express themselves to the offender and lets the offender apologize and express their feelings to the victim. The restorative justice system often offers the victims of crime closure. The system encourages both parties to reveal themselves to each other and develop a solution for the future to satisfy both parties involved.

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While adherence to the principles is the most important aspect, communities and jurisdictions can develop an approach that is most likely to be successful in their area. There is a great deal of flexibility in determining the best solution for a community. The key component is a strong relationship between the criminal justice practitioners and the resources of the community. There must be recognition that victim and community have an interest in being a working part of criminal justice and public safety in their area. Restorative justice programs target the ultimate goals of improving public safety and reducing the likelihood that additional criminal activity will occur.

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A common theme among restorative justice (RJ) practices, as a whole, is to hold offenders accountable and empower victims. The sentencing circle, also known as the peacemaking circle, is a community-based practice with the primary goal of determining a suitable punishment that meets the needs of all parties associated with the offense. There are, however, other RJ practices, specifically ones used in cases of intimate family or domestic violence, that are in contract to the sentencing circle. For example, victim-survivor panels are a common RJ practice for victims of domestic or sexual violence. Victims do not face their abuser but rather the attendees are individuals, typically men, responsible for committing similar offenses as those described

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Victim –Offender mediation stems from the Restorative justice concept, a framework which views the victim, the community and the offender as those harmed by the offense. To repair this collective harm, restorative justice requires the active involvement of all affected parties to make the offender answerable and to restore the

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Restorative Justice processes are likely to reduce criminals from repeating offenses, as numerous recidivism studies have demonstrated. Thus, it would be more than justified to employ restorative processes a response to crimes under

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The Restorative justice processes provide an opportunity for forgiveness and reconciliation to materialize, if the victims are willing to, and generally, it is not surprising for this to occur with greater or lesser intensity. Forgiveness itself includes individual transformation of the victims that can free the pain of the past thereby healing the wounds caused by the crime. The decision to forgive has multifaceted explanations. Often, the victims themselves find it difficult to identify clearly the reason or reasons that led them to forgive and also it is common that there is more than one cause. Restorative justice seeks to uphold the humanization of the consequences of crime, encouraging the postulation of accountability on the part of

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Batley (2005) stated that restorative justice is about restoring, healing and re- integrating victims, offenders, as well as the society and also preventing further harm. In this assignment, I will be discussing approaches to restorative justice and illustrating their advantages and disadvantages to offending. I will also provide the applications of these five approaches of restorative justice which are retributive approach, utilitarian deterrence approach, rehabilitation approach, restitution approach and restorative approach in the given case study. I will then explain my preferred approach to justice through identifying a personal belief or value that underpins my choice.

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Another reason that I feel so strongly about the restorative justice program being the better approach to the justice system is because of all the benefits the program has to offer. According to Gibbs and Jacobson (2009) this approach holds wrongdoers responsible for their actions in a constructive and meaningful way that can possibly lead to a more sustaining experience of justice for the victims and their society. Usually in the end both the victims and the offenders have a high level of gratification with the practice and the outcomes.  Some of the main benefits for using the restorative justice approach for victims and the offenders include the large amount of reduction in the offender repeating offending, although not all, it can help

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As wrongdoing will continue to occur in society, the manner in which wrongdoers are dealt with will be debated alongside it. Hence, it is vital to have a justice process that can adequately deal with wrongdoers in a manner that incarceration has not, and in recent times, such an ideology of justice has emerged; restorative justice. This journal will divulge into restorative justice, and to do this, I shall; describe restorative, compare and contrast different types of concepts of justice, exemplify critiques, and benefits of restorative justice, and discuss the future of restorative justice. In the end, restorative justice will be clearly depicted as a tremendous process that has been far too long ignored by conventional justice practices, and in the future should be utilized more, as it has great potential to aid numerous individuals who make mistakes. To begin with, restorative justice is an attempt to address the several flaws that the criminal justice system possesses in terms of not adequately meeting the needs of each stakeholder: the harmer, the harmed, and the community (Zehr, 2015, pg.

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Restorative justice strives to re-establish goodwill between the parties, thereby diffusing reconciliation in a society. Although enduring amity remains an unachieved objective, the TRC nonetheless holds immense value in South Africa’s progression towards social goodwill. In summary, the tradition and legacy of the TRC can be described as the practice of the restoration of hurts between wrongdoers and their victims in the hope and ambition of large-scale reconciliation.

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While the retributive justice system primarily focuses on the community response to offending, thereby totally ignoring the legitimate needs of the victims, the restorative justice system works on the idea of victim empowerment. Having said that, we also have to take into account the recent paradigm shift, which has been a result of the various movements against the deficiencies in the current criminal justice system. The Courts are slowly making certain changes in the sentencing policies by paying heed to the wailings of the victims, one major instance being that of the scope for victim compensation under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The Supreme Court has taken a pro-active role and resorted to affirmative action to protect the rights of victims of sexual offences. Since restorative justice is an emerging concept in India, previous research on this area clearly points out that the main difference between restorative and retributive approaches is the former’s emphasis on reintegration, restitution and reparation.

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