A. WHAT IS RESTORATIVE JUSTICE?
• 'Restorative Justice' is a different way of dealing with conflict. It tries to humanize conflict by looking at who has been hurt by the conflict, who is the victim, who is the offender, and what the obligations are on the part of the offender.
• Restorative Justice = Peaceful approach to address human rights violations.
• It seeks healing and reconciliation between the victim, the offender and the community … unlike the traditional model of the criminal justice system, which seeks only punishment.
• Restorative Justice seeks for the accountability and responsibility of the offender with regard to the victim and community.
• Acknowledges that injustices have been done to people
• Engages those who were harmed, the wrongdoers and their affected communities in search of solutions that promote repair , reconciliation and the rebuilding of relationships.
• Restorative Justice includes reparations (restitution) to victims of injustice. To "make right" as much as possible.
• Reparations help to bring perpetrators back into the human community, and to build bridges between victims and perpetrators.
• It preserves the dignity of everybody involved.
• The unifying concept behind restorative justice is the restoration of relationships.
• Restorative justice is about building a system that makes the community whole again.
B. HISTORY OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
• In Sumer , the Code of Ur-Nammu (c. 2060 BC) required restitution for offences of violence.
• In Babylon , the Code of Hammurabi (c. 1700 BC) prescribed restitution as a sanction for property offences.
• In ancient Israel , the 1 st 5 books of the OT specified restitution for property crimes.
• In Rome , the Twelve Tables (449 BC) ordered convicted thieves to pay double the value of stolen goods.
• In Germany , tribal laws promulgated by King Clovis I (496 AD) called for restitutional sanctions for both violent and non-violent offences.
• In England , the Laws of Ethelbert of Kent (c. 600 AD) included detailed restitution schedules.
C. FAITH
• Christ's message is about healing and forgiveness. Jesus' life was about healing people -physically, emotionally, spiritually. Who is hurt? What do they need? How can they be healed?
• Restorative justice is about healing . Who is hurt? What do they need? How can they be healed?
• The restoration of broken relationships is very much rooted in biblical teaching. It is about bringing people together, helping them to understand that when they are involved in wrongdoing there are consequences and obligations . Basically it is about acknowledgement of injustice, reparations (restitution), healing, moving forward and trying to create a better future for everybody
• We are our brother's and sister's keeper because we are all of God's family. Because of that we're to work for justice at every level of our life together within the society.
• Confession where we have wronged and forgiveness where we have been offended is part of the Christian teachings.
• Restorative justice has its own rewards in an inner peace, a lessening of bitterness and struggle, the relief of aligning our behavior with what we know to be right.
D. PRINCIPLES OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
• Focuses on the harms of wrongdoing
• Show equal concern and commitment to victims and perpetrators
• Work towards the restoration of victims; empowering them and responding to their needs as they see them
• Support perpetrators while encouraging them to understand, accept and carry out their obligations
• Recognize that while obligations may be difficult for perpetrators they should not be intended as harms and they must be achievable;
• Provide opportunities for dialogue, direct or indirect, between victims and offenders
• Empower the affected community and increases its capacity to recognize and respond to human rights violations
• Encourage reintegration rather than isolation
• Show respect to all parties, including victims and perpetrators
E. PROCESS OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
• Acknowledgement from the perpetrator to the victim that a wrong has been done
• Authentic apology – regret or remorse for the injustice done
• Taking responsibility for injustices done
• Actively working towards the restoration of the broken relationship
• Compensation for injustice done (nothing can compensate for emotional and psychological suffering). Compensation is not a payoff or a silencing, but rather one step among many in the long process of inter-communal healing.
• Forgiveness of perpetrator
• Restored relationship between perpetrator and victim
• Healing for both perpetrator and victim |