April 2006 Edition
Stories include: Community Restorative Justice in Northern Ireland – An Overview; The Politicisation of Community Restorative Justice in Northern Ireland; Restorative Justice in Northern Ireland—a web bibliography;John Braithwaite awarded the 2006 Stockholm Prize in Criminology; Book Review: The Healing of Nations: The Promise and Limits of Political Forgiveness; Video Review: Red Hook Justice; Meet Fred McElrea; Website of the Month: Youth Conference Service.
Community Restorative Justice in Northern Ireland – An Overview
Community restorative justice programmes developed in Northern Ireland as an alternative to punitive "self-policing" by the IRA and Loyalist groups. In this article, Brian Gormally, a practitioner working in Northern Ireland, provides an overview of the development of community restorative justice initiatives, their importance to the community, and the obstacles they are encountering.
The Politicisation of Community Restorative Justice in Northern Ireland
Community restorative justice programmes in Northern Ireland developed in an atmosphere of conflict and distrust of formal justice institutions. Recently, their informal community base has been a point of contention as these programmes have sought governmental funding. Anna Eriksson, of the Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice Queen’s University of Belfast, describes this politicisation of community restorative justice in Northern Ireland.
Restorative Justice in Northern Ireland—a web bibliography
Restorative justice is being hotly debated in Northern Ireland. The implementation of restorative practices by community programmes as an alternative to violent and punitive paramilitary responses to crime and anti-social behaviour, has raised questions about their participation with the police and formal justice system. This annotated bibliography provides links to articles online that discuss various dimensions of the implementation of restorative justice in Northern Ireland.
John Braithwaite awarded the 2006 Stockholm Prize in Criminology
John Braithwaite of the Australian National University and Friedrich Lösel of Cambridge University in the UK have been awarded the 2006 Stockholm Prize in Criminology.
Book Review: The Healing of Nations: The Promise and Limits of Political Forgiveness
Mark Amstutz argues that forgiveness, when rooted in restorative justice, is not confined to personal morality but can promote healing and renewal in social and political life, thereby fostering a more just, humane, and stable political order.
Video Review: Red Hook Justice
This 55 minute documentary describes the efforts of the Red Hook Community Justice Center to bring defendants, court officials and local community members together to overcome the endemic problems in their Brooklyn, New York community.
Website of the Month: Youth Conference Service
The 2002 Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002 provided statutory support for restorative conferencing as a response to youth crime. In December 2003, the Youth Conference Service was launched in the greater Belfast area. This website provides an overview of youth conferencing, the scheme in Northern Ireland, and important information for victims and offenders.
Meet Fred McElrea
Fred McElrea is a judge in the Auckland District Court in New Zealand.
