Child Justice Act undercut from within

from the article by Don Pinnock in the Mail & Guardian Online:

Even before it began the rocky climb through the parliamentary process, the Child Justice Bill was considered to be internationally path-breaking legislation. It was born in the euphoria of the early 1990s in a country where youth had been considered politically lethal, whipping was a sentence, imprisonment the standard response to wrongdoing and torture considered a legitimate interrogation method.

The new legislation sought to provide restorative justice by diverting child offenders from this punitive justice system and keeping them out of prisons, which simply hardened criminality. It devised ways to work with offenders and victims to restore harmony in the community where the crime took place. Punishment would be tailored to the crime and dealt in a way that maintained the self-respect of the offender as well as the approval of both community and victim.

Oct 07, 2011 Juvenile, Practice, Police, Guidelines, Country:South Africa, Policy, Region: Africa, Conceptual, Standards

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Launch of Wentworth Restorative Justice Project in Durban

from the announcement on Imagine Durban:

Khulisa is an award-winning NGO dedicated to preventing crime through promoting rehabilitation, education and reconciliation.

In partnership with the South Durban Basin Area Based Management Programme of Ethekwini Municipality, Khulisa has launched an integrated pilot project aimed at bringing the concepts of restorative justice (RJ) into the Merewent community.

Khulisa helps families and communities support victims who need healing and offenders who want to make amends in order to provide support to the justice system by maximising community participation.

Jan 07, 2010 Policy, Support, Region: Africa, Country:South Africa

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South Africa's whites and restorative justice

We hear a lot in the news about racial conflict, and a lot less about racial reconciliation. But from South Africa to South Central Los Angeles, there are communities engaging in what experts call “restorative justice" to resolve the wrongs of the past and present.

Jun 09, 2009 Minority, Guidelines, Country:South Africa, National Reconciliation, Policy, Country:USA

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Sexual Violence Research Initiative's restorative justice page

From the Initiative's website: Across the world, only a tiny proportion of survivors/victims of sexual violence ever see their rapist punished. There is increasing awareness that the requirements of legal proceedings are often in conflict with the needs of sexual violence survivors/victims. Experiences of the adversarial court processes post-sexual violence are often traumatic, requiring the survivor/victim to confront their assailant, to defend their case and re-live the experience.

May 12, 2009 Policy, Country:South Africa, Region: Africa, Case:Sexual

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