Robert Mackay is a social worker that developed a pre-prosecution model of victim-offender mediation in 1986 with the Scottish NGO, SACRO, and the Scottish public prosecutors, the Procurator Fiscal Service. Since 1989, he has worked as a Lecturer in Social Work at the University of Dundee, Scotland. His main academic interests have been the development of

• Alternative Dispute Resolution

• Neighbourhood Mediation

• Restorative Justice Theory.

In a number of papers and articles, Rob has examined the contribution of different disciplines to the development of Restorative Justice theory, particularly literary criticism, Scots history, legal anthropology, and legal philosophy and ethics. In his work on legal philosophy and ethics, Rob tries to provide justifications for Restorative Justice from within these traditions of academic enquiry. He has also attempted to show how these theoretical accounts can directly influence principles of practice.

 As a university teacher he has contributed classes on Restorative Justice to programmes in Law and Social Work, and to the international Masters in Criminology ERASMUS programme at the University of Leuven, Belgium.  

Rob maintains a strong interest in the management and development of practice, serving as a member of the board of directors of SACRO and Secretary of the European Forum for Victim-Offender Mediation and Restorative Justice. He also participated in the development of the widely cited document Standards in Restorative Justice.
 

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Legal developments in Europe and around the world are bringing Restorative justice principles closer to the heart of our legal systems. A global emphasis on human rights enhances the importance of victim needs in criminal justice, without prejudicing the possibility of a marriage between restorative ideals and judicial practice. 

Legal theory and ethics can provide theoretical justifications for restorative justice that go further than claiming space for restorative justice practices alongside or within conventional criminal justice systems.

Theory can provide accounts of legal systems that show that they must contain Restorative principles at their heart if they are to claim and retain legitimacy. We should be attempting the academically daunting process of formulating a restorative theory of law.

 This will need to be robust enough to be relevant in different, but possibly converging, legal traditions. It will also need to deal with critical issues such as the roles of punishment and retribution, the place of outraged feelings, and the bringing together of traditional and modern systems of dispute resolution. This is a tough agenda, but one that can only be achieved by the active engagement of practitioners and scholars with each other, and with the real concerns of those involved in the criminal justice system.  

Robert MacKay

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Leading Edge. Rob is developing 'accompanying research' on forthcoming implementation of family group conferencing in the Scottish juvenile justice system. He hopes to devise research on 'what really happens in mediation practice'. He has been involved in discussions with the Scottish Prison Service about the introduction of Restorative Justice measures in prisons.

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Reach Robert MacKay  at mackayre@brownaj.freeserve.co.uk

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