Putting victims at the heart of justice

….Restorative justice has sometimes been dismissed as “just saying sorry”
by those who have no experience of how rigorous and effective this
approach is. Yet facing victims is one of the hardest things a
perpetrator of crime can be asked to do.

….A structured youth conference usually involves family and community
members, and a police officer. Offenders and victims are helped by
highly trained and skilled organisers to discuss the offence, its
impact and to agree on an action plan for the offender. Components of a
youth conference action plan can include:

• An apology – verbal or written.

• Reparation: that is, doing something for the victim or community to make up for the harm caused.

•
Specified activity to address offending eg engagement in mentoring or
offender behaviour programme, education or diversionary activity.

• Unpaid work for up to 240 hours.

•
Restriction: that is, prohibiting the young person from undertaking
certain activities or going to certain places; this can entail
electronic monitoring.

• Payment of compensation to the victim or a charity.

• Supervision by a social worker or other responsible adult.

•Treatment for alcohol, drug, or mental health problems.

Following
burglary and criminal damage at a church, a 16-year-old worked to put
things right by cleaning, polishing and painting, supervised by the
caretaker, as well as apologising to the clergyman. The young man also
donated a sum of money to a charitable organisation helping to
reconstruct people’s lives and homes after the Asian tsunami. He kept
his word as given at the conference, completed all that had been asked
of him and has not reoffended. He has returned to school and will
shortly take up vocational training. All parties involved in the
restorative conference believed the outcomes to be fair and
proportionate to the offence.

Read the whole column.