Source: (1998) Justice as Healing 3 (4).
The author states that the purpose of a justice system in an Aboriginal society is to restore peace and equilibrium within the community, and to reconcile the accused with his or her own conscience and with the individual or family that has been wronged. This is a primary difference with the Canadian justice system. It is a difference that challenges the appropriateness of the present legal and justice system for Aboriginal people in the resolution of conflict, the reconciliation of offenders and victims, and the maintenance of community harmony and good order. In this regard, he notes that many urge the replacement of the punitive focus of conventional Canadian law with a more conciliatory approach that emphasizes the restoration of peaceful relations between offender, victim, and community
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