Restorative Justice Centre's submission to Ministry of Justice on victims' rights

The Restorative Justice Centre at AUT University in New Zealand has responded to a discussion draft titled "A Focus on Victims of Crime: A Review of Victims' Rights" on how the government might better address the needs of crime victims. Following are excerpts from RJC's response:

9. The central justice needs of victims are submitted to be accountability, vindication, empowerment, information, truth-telling and future safety. Only the first and last of these are addressed (to some degree) by the current legal process, and then only when the offender is convicted. Thus in crimes that go largely unreported, such as sexual offences, there can be no feeling of accountability in the absence of alternative processes, and victims remain unsafe.

10. The remaining four central justice needs are those which Dr Howard Zehr, known to and used by MoJ as a consultant in restorative justice, has said are “especially neglected”. They are next mentioned separately. However they overlap with needs identified by other writers.

Mar 30, 2010 Region: Pacific, Support, Mediation, System, Country:New Zealand, Other, Victim, Court, Restitution

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More kumbaya, fewer criminals?

from Heather Horn's post on Atlantic Wire:

Do criminals just need to talk and get some perspective? Yes, the idea seems fluffy, but it looks like some types of talk actually work. "Restorative justice"--in which convicted criminals actually meet their victims--is rapidly gaining ground in the UK.

In one case recounted by Libby Brooks in the Guardian, the victim of a violent burglary wound up shouting at his attacker, telling him "he had crushed every belief [the victim] had that [he] could handle [himself] and protect [his] family." For the attacker, "this was the moment his perspective shifted irrevocably." Despite a history of criminality, he has not reoffended in the past eight years, and is in fact working as a "restorative conference facilitator."

Mar 25, 2010 Support, Practice, Victim

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Mugging victim Zoe Harrison 'helped to recover' by meeting her attacker Aaron Burns via restorative justice

from Nick Harding's article in The Mirror:

When Zoe Harrison first came across Aaron Burns he held a knife to her throat and battered her so brutally he was spattered in her blood.

The last time Zoe, 26, came face to face with her mugger, she left him sobbing for forgiveness.

This is the power of restorative justice - making criminals say sorry to victims.

Mar 25, 2010 Support, Practice, Country:England&Wales, Region: Europe, Victim

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