Source: (2003) Te Ara Whaketika: newsletter of the court-reffered restorative justice project. July/August. 17. Ministry of Justice New Zealand. Downloaded 9 December 2003.
One of the principles of restorative justice is that an offender should take responsibility for his or her actions. Hence, an aim of restorative justice processes is to bring the offender to that point of taking responsibility. This article recounts the essentials of a court-referred restorative justice conference in New Zealand. The conference dealt with a case where the driver of a car accidentally ran over the foot of a child but did not at first acknowledge or apologize for the incident. The conference enabled the mother of the child to seek and receive an apology and explanation for the actions, as well as some financial compensation.
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