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Summary

Skelton, Ann and Cheryl Frank (2000). "Conferencing in South Africa: Returning to our future." In Restorative justice for juveniles: Conferencing, mediation and circles, ed. Allison Morris and Gabrielle Maxwell, 103-119. With a foreword by DJ Carruthers. Oxford: Hart Publishing.

Since the change to democratic rule, South African criminal justice has been in flux. This holds true for juvenile justice as well. With emphasis on family group conferencing, Skelton and Frank look at the past and present of restorative justice in South Africa. They perceive sources of restorative justice in African traditional conflict resolution. They trace threads of traditional justice into contemporary times and into modern restorative justice through community courts, trends in alternative dispute resolution, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Moreover, in the 1990s several factors directly fostered restorative justice in South Africa: government policy; family group conferencing pilot projects; and law reform. Based on all of this, the authors then present an outline for developing a uniquely South African model of family group conferencing.

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