The purpose of the prize is to recognize those whose work has led to significant advances in the implementation of restorative justice. It was first presented in 2003 to Howard Zehr for his individual leadership and influence in the field. The second recipients, in 2005, were Kim Workman and Jackie Katounas for their work as practitioners and programme leaders in New Zealand. The 2007 prize recognizes the leadership of an NGO.

Nineteen organizations were nominated for the prize. Selection of the winner was based on the following criteria:

1.    Significance of the advances, demonstrated in terms of scale, innovation, or other ways of measuring societal impact.

2.    Implementation of the advances, although conceptual, design, promotional or other work preceding or following implementation may be considered in awarding the prize.

3.    While most significant advances in restorative justice are the result of activities by many people and organizations, the recipient should have made a substantial contribution to that effort by playing a uniquely significant role.

“It was a very difficult decision to make,” said Dan Van Ness, Executive Director of the Centre, in making the award. “The nominees had each made a significant impact on local, national or international criminal justice policies. But PEACE stood out because of its unique work revitalizing customary processes of peacemaking in Bougainville. This allowed Bougainvilleans to use those to begin binding wounds of a prolonged conflict that had set villages and families against each other across the island.”

In nominating PEACE, John Braithwaite commented: “The peace [in Bougainville] looks sustainable and secure…. No one in the Northern hemisphere knows much about the war.  But I do not know of a war where restorative justice played a more central role in building peace.  There is still much to be learned about indigenous Bougainvillean contributions to restorative justice.  I often feel disappointed about how little Western restorative justice learns from restorative justice in obscure developing countries.  There is certainly much to learn from Bougainville.”

This edition of Restorative Justice Online is dedicated to the work of PEACE. The Bougainville Project of PEACE Foundation Melanesia offers a brief overview of the civil war and PEACE’s unique and creative response. Incorporating Custom Law into State Law in Melanesia explores the possibilities of “mainstreaming” restorative justice as an integral part of the justice system. “Operation Regeneration”: Applying the Lessons of Bougainville to International Peace Operations outlines a hypothetical international peace operation informed by restorative justice values. The book review this month is of Bro. Pat Howley’s Breaking Spears and Mending Hearts, an account of the work of  PEACE in revitalizing customary peacemaking practices. The video review is of an award-winning documentary, Breaking Bows and Arrows, that shows the power of those practices in bringing reconciliation between two villages and two families.

Dan Van Ness

August 2007