US Announces it will not support development of Basic Principles
In a speech made during meetings of the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, a US representative said that the US does not support development of basic principles on restorative justice, although it does feel that restorative measures are useful in appropriate cases.
The statement was made during a May 14, 2001 debate on on whether the UN can effectively track compliance with its existing standards and norms. Marvene O'Rourke presented the US position that the UN lacks effective methods of ensuring compliance. She ended by commenting on several pending topics: crime prevention, victims of crime and restorative justice. On the latter topic, she said:
"The U.S. also supports the use of the restorative justice processes in appropriate cases. We do not, however, support further work on the draft principles contained in ECOSOC resolution 2000/14. Moreover, we are concerned that the general term 'restorative justice' may be understood to encompass broad principles on which there is currently not agreement.
"We are not convinced that any further work should be done in this area. We remain convinced that scarce time and resources should not be devoted to the elaboration of general principles on process, such as those outlined in the current draft elements on restorative justice."
The US was one of 37 countries to submit responses to the Secretary-General's request for comments on the basic principles proposal. Those responses have not yet been made public, but it is assumed that the US response was similar to its public statement.
The Canadian government continues to prepare for the Experts' Meeting it will be hosting from 29 October to 1 November, 2001. This meeting will review the country comments and recommend any further UN action that the Experts deem appropriate.
15 August 2001
What will happen at the UN Experts' Meeting? See About the Experts' Meeting on Draft Basic Principles.
Why are basic principles necessary? See The Need for Basic Principles.
For more background information on the Basic Principles, including a point-by-point commentary on each provision, see Proposed UN Basic Principles on Restorative Justice by Daniel W. Van Ness.
