Restorative Justice in the Pacific Islands: An Introduction.

Source: (2003) In, Sinclair Dinnen, Anita Jowitt, and Tess Newton Cain, eds., A Kind of Mending: Restorative Justice in the Pacific Islands. Canberra, ACT: Pandanus Books. Pp. 1-34.

In his introduction to this collection of essays, Sinclair Dinnen describes the situation of the Pacific Islands as vulnerable, with fragile justice institutions and high levels of insecurity and violent conflict. For Dinnen, the ability of local communities to respond to violence and crime will be important in enabling the development of stable State structures. He also reports that the ‘resonance between restorative justice and more traditional approaches’ was a stimulus for discussion among conference participants.