Restorative Approaches in Societies Emerging from Conflict

Source: (2005) Presentation to the VUW Institute of Policy Studies Symposium: Towards a Restorative Society, October 10-11 2005.

In Conclusion, lack of long tem resource commitments by the international community
leaves many rehabilitation programmes as little more than crisis management interventions.
Complex emergencies usually have neither a clear beginning nor a definitive ending and
any return to ‘normalcy’ is lengthy.
An appropriately designed agenda of restorative justice post conflict, like its implementation,
constitutes a major call on the resources, skills and patience of local officials and external
assistance modalities. Competing to hold let alone advance this particular square of space
is a daunting challenge given the many other demands facing post-conflict societies.
However the resources allocated more than pay their way when we consider the economic
advantages of rule governed property, market and investment behaviour, the political
advantages of ensuring the executive is governing constitutionally and the social benefits
that accrue from determinations of guilt or innocence not at the barrel of the gun but
through duly instated judicial procedures.
There is a huge amount to do so far as advancing restorative justice post-conflict to have
operable, clearly understood restorative justice nomenclature in use. There is no consensus
on best practice for restorative justice post-conflict. Determinants of such best practice need
urgent identification, as do obstacles to their implementation and means of overcoming
such obstacles. (excerpt)