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Armitage, Steve. Best Practice in Community Partnership to Reduce Youth Offending (Lessons Learned from Eight Years of Practice).

The paper will discuss the issues that have emerged from eight years of partnership between the State Government and the youth sector in Queensland in implementing programs to address the needs of young people at risk of entering the youth justice system. Given the experience and insight that has developed over this time the Department has been able to adopt a more proactive approach to developing collaborative projects targeting specific community concerns. To illustrate best practice in crime prevention, the “Ipswich Projectâ€? will be examined in detail as an example of intersectorial collaboration to develop and implement a project with a “bottom upâ€? approach across the community and all levels of government. By integrating the key elements of situational and social crime prevention and early intervention this project represents a balanced approach to reducing youth offending within the targeted area.

Bazemore, Gordon and Schiff, Mara F.. Juvenile Justice Reform and Restorative Justice: Building Theory and Policy from Practice

The study's goal was to advance practice, policy, theory, and research in restorative decisionmaking by improving the "fit" among these domains. This national case study featured a quantitative national program inventory and survey, along with a qualitative study that included interviews with a national sample of practitioners, participant observation, and interviews in several communities in two States (Colorado and Minnesota) active in restorative justice decisionmaking. The first chapter of this book defines restorative group conferencing in the context of a larger restorative justice movement and body of practice and policy, followed by a chapter that includes an inventory of the intervention theories that may inform practitioners' work as they anticipate restorative conferencing outcomes. The third chapter presents exploratory descriptive data on the prevalence of restorative conferencing in the United States, with attention to various conferencing models. A presentation and discussion of the qualitative component of the research begins with chapter 4, as it presents the research design for the qualitative study and describes primary and secondary units of analysis and the qualitative sampling protocol. The next three chapters present the data pertinent to how practitioners understand and apply the principles and related theories of restorative justice. The concluding chapter synthesizes theories of practice and considers definitions of "success" that relate to theories of intervention. Conclusions are drawn about the current state of restorative conferencing in the United States and the application of theory to practice in conferencing experiences. Further, the chapter presents issues, propositions, and concerns for future research, policy, and practice. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.

Bazemore, Gordon. Why we need legislation on Restorative Justice Conferencing

In this article, Gordon Bazemore maintains that legislation on restorative justice conferencing is needed in the United States. Thus restorative justice conferencing could be advanced in state juvenile justice systems. He bases this at least in part on observation of conferencing and relevant legislation in Australia and New Zealand. For Bazemore, conferencing is arguably the core restorative process inasmuch as it provides a kind of “gateway" for other restorative justice interventions, such as community service, restitution, reparation, and more. While Bazemore sees several benefits from conferencing legislation in the United States, at a minimum, he states, it would institutionalize conferencing, and would heighten awareness of conferencing and restorative justice itself.

Becroft, Andrew. Youth Justice in New Zealand: Future Challenges

The starting point is to emphasise that the fundamental structure and principles of the New Zealand youth justice system are sound (and have been for 15 years). The outcomes since the passage of the legislation suggest that the system is working. An increase in diversion and decrease in cases coming to the Youth Court, together with decreases in incarceration and institutionalisation, are achievements of which all those working in the New Zealand youth justice sector may justly be proud. (excerpt)

Beke, Dirk. Legislation and Decentralisation in Uganda: From Resistance Councils to Elected Local Councils with Guaranteed Representation

By analyzing the legislation process of decentralization in Uganda, Dirk Beke aims in this chapter to contribute to legal anthropology in the field of public law in Africa. He conducts his analysis not through a discussion of formal legal procedures in Uganda, but through examination of the legislative process in its political and social environment, as well as through exploration of the impact of the new rules on Ugandan society and government. More specifically, Beke looks at the origin, objectives, recent evolution, and implementation of legislation concerning decentralization in Uganda. Decentralization is an important component of the wider policy reform that started in 1986 after more than twenty years of dictatorship and civil war. While Beke does deal with certain elements of traditional leadership in his analysis, he focuses on the political environment and the role of other local actors, such as non-governmental organizations and foreign donors.

Braithwaite, John. Standards for Restorative Justice

Braithwaite discusses the benefits and the pitfalls of regulating restorative justice practices. One main concern is power imbalance and control by a governmental regulatory body.

Burnett, Cathleen . Restorative Justice and Wrongful Capital Convictions: A Simple Proposal

In discussions regarding how to compensate those wrongfully convicted of serious crimes and imprisoned most of the strategies focus on the legal system as the appropriate arena for a remedy. The problem with legal remedies, however, is the unintended consequences that create barriers to reintegrating the wrongfully convicted back into society. Following a review of the problem, which is that those wrongfully convicted of serious crimes are not eligible for the minimal State supports offered to offenders released from prisons and are thus less prepared to reintegrate into society. In cases where they are eligible for the minimal supports, that is all they received in the form of legal redress. Most States do not have well-defined mechanisms to compensate those wrongfully convicted and only 20 States have mechanisms for seeking some amount of financial redress. The solutions currently available to compensate the wrongfully convicted are presented and critiqued as less than adequate. The three main types of solutions, lawsuits, private legislation, and private donations, all grew out of the legal system’s traditional justice model. The author presents a restorative justice solution to compensate the wrongfully convicted that is extrajudicial and is grounded in the executive branch’s responsibility to provide for the administration of justice. The main argument is that State resources should help the wrongfully convicted integrate back into their legitimate community life; an emphasis is placed on community participation and support. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org

Carroll, M. Implementation Issues: Considering the Conferencing Options for Victoria

The potential advantages and dangers of family group conferences are discussed in the context of the existing juvenile justice system in Victoria under the Children and Young Persons Act 1989. These approaches have led to fewer young people admitted by courts to supervised programs making the need for more diversion approaches questionable. Concerns about police-based family group conferences include police neutrality, police role as prosecutor and judge, and program costs. Concerns about the New Zealand model include professional involvement in decision making, low victim satisfaction, net-widening, and costs of program implementation.

Chhana, Rajesh and Hurd, Chris and Spier, Philip and Hurd, Chris and Roberts, Susan and Spier, Philip. The Sentencing Act 2002: Monitoring the First Year

The Sentencing Act 2002, together with the Parole Act 2002, came into force on 30 June 2002. The two acts represented a comprehensive reform of the laws relating to sentencing and parole as contained in the Criminal Justice Act 1985 ("the CJA"). This report considers the impact that the Sentencing Act 2002 ("the Act") has had on sentencing practice during the 12 months since it came into force, in terms of the key changes that were made to sentencing policy. The report draws on an extensive review of judgments delivered by the courts at all levels and an analysis of statistics on a before and after basis. We have presented the last 5 years' statistics, as it is often the case that announced policy changes start to have an impact prior to coming into force. The report also provides a general snap shot of sentencing statistics in the year following the Act's coming into force. (excerpt)

Church Council on Justice and Corrections. Appearance before Standing Committee on Justice, studying Youth Criminal Justice Act

The Church Council on Justice and Corrections (CCJC) is a Canadian coalition of faith-based individuals and churches advocating for a more humane way to practice criminal justice. The Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights is a committee of the Canadian House of Commons. This document consists of a transcript of some testimony given by two people from the CCJC before the Standing Committee with reference to Bill C-3, the proposed Youth Criminal Justice Act. The CCJC representatives presented restorative justice values and attitudes that they believe should be incorporated in the Act as the framework for youth justice. In particular, to illustrate these values and attitudes, they sketch stories, cases, and outcomes from family group conference experiences.

Clairmont, Don. Penetrating the Walls: Implementing A System-Wide Restorative Justice Approach In the Justice System.

The effort was launched in November 1999 after several years of planning that involved discussion among nonprofit agencies who deliver alternative corrections programs and leaders at all levels of the justice system. The central objective was to have restorative justice processes implemented in various ways, phased in by offender status and region, and applicable to all offenses and all offenders throughout the Province. This plan is unusual not only in its scope but also in its use of both core paid staff and volunteers, as well as its Province-wide coordination. Initial research on the progress of this project showed that two major obstacles ("walls") persistently limited and marginalized the impact of restorative justice principles and procedures on the justice system. One "wall" was the uncertainty of commitment and enlightened participation by criminal justice role-players. The second "wall" was the hesitant support and participation of crime victims and community leaders. The author, who has been conducting an in-depth evaluation of the Nova Scotia initiative, notes that over time the presence, persistence, and benefits of restorative justice have begun to permeate the thinking and operations of criminal justice professionals. Restorative justice has gradually emerged as a significant factor in strategic planning by police, crown prosecutors, correctional staff, and victim services officials. Information, training, and evaluation findings have been persuasive factors in convincing role players of the value of changing their operations to conform to a paradigm that promises more effective outcomes than traditional criminal justice processing. Abstract courtesy of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.

Crowe, Alex and Nelson, Liz. Where have we got to with the Government's Strategy?

In 2003, the British government published a strategy/consultation document on restorative justice, and it worked with the Restorative Justice Consortium to continue this consultation process. Here Alex Crow and Liz Nelson report on the status of the British governmentxe2x80x99s exploration of and strategy for restorative justice. Particular developments include, among other items, the following: convening of a group to develop policy on training and accreditation for restorative practitioners; new restorative justice pilot projects; upcoming publication of guidance for local criminal justice agencies in developing restorative justice; and consultation on the use of restorative justice in cases of domestic violence.

Duff, R. A.. Theories and Policies Underlying Guidelines Systems: Guidance and Guidelines.

Why do sentencing systems require guidelines? This is basically the question R.A. Duff asks at the beginning of this paper. Building on that question, Duff addresses the form that such guidelines should take. In particular, Duff looks at objections to numerical guidelines schemes. This leads to an appeal to an alternative, Aristotelian conception of practical reasoning to argue that a just and rational sentencing system should be based on a discursive rather than numerical set of guidelines. On this basis, Duff discusses how non-custodial sentences – which are central to a humane penal system – can be brought under a guidelines scheme. One way to do this would be to adopt a negotiated sentencing in which the offender participated in the determination of the sentence. This would shift attention to a greater emphasis on the justice of sentencing procedures rather than justice conceived in terms of the sentence apart from the procedures.

Durmortier, Els. Neglecting due process for minors: A possible dark side of the restorative justice implementation?

Expressing skepticism about what he perceives to be the optimistic nature of restorative justice perspectives, Dumortier scrutinizes the language of restorative justice discourse and the issue of due process for minors in the implementation of restorative justice procedures.

Eddy, Dan. Repairing the Harm: A Response

With benefits nearly doubling in the past six years -- from $250 million to more than $450 million annually -- state compensation programs are providing financial assitance to more vicitms of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, and other crimes than ever before.

Freiberg, Arie and Morgan, Neil. Between Bail and Sentence: the conflation of dispositional options.

In 2002, report Arie Freiberg and Neil Morgan, the New South Wales (Australia) Parliament enacted the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Criminal Justice Interventions) Act. The Act introduced the “intervention program orderâ€? into the range of options available to a court at the following points in the criminal justice process: after an arrest but pre-trial, or after a finding of guilt or a conviction. Freiberg and Morgan describe this order as a new species of dispositional outcome. They claim that on the face of it the purpose is laudable – the purpose being to reduce re-offending by having the offender participate in a rehabilitation, treatment, or restorative justice program. Freiberg and Morgan, however, fault the means by which this purpose is pursued. They argue that an order which can be used as a condition of bail, as a deferred sentence, or as a condition in a good behavior bond raises significant issues as to the dividing between bail and sentencing. With this in mind, they explore the problematic nature of bail and the increasing use of non-traditional bail conditions to provide interventions that are normally the province of sentencing courts.

Gal, Tali. Child-Victims and Restorative Justice: The Appeal, the Risks

The common approach toward children who have been victimised by criminal acts is a paternalistic one. Legal systems have been seeking ways to limit child-victims' participation in the criminal justice proceedings against their offenders, to minimized the risk of further trauma of these children. Child protection services, when involved, focus on healing the child separately from the rehabilitation/incarceration of the offender. This paternalistic approach, despite its good intentions, is not in line with internationally accepted children's rights concepts. In this session I will describe shortly the general principles related to children's rights as provided in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and in particular the participation principle - the right of every child to take part in any decision-making process affecting his or her life. While the participation right is being gradually implemented in many fields of children's lives, hardly any participation exists with regard to the criminal justice process that follows an offence against children. Restorative justice, on the other hand, puts victims, together with offenders and communities, at the centre, and encourages active participation in the process. Until today, however, very little is known about the special needs and rights of child-victims participating in such processes. No wonder, then, that there are very few programs world wide that integrate child-victims on a regular basis, especially not in severe cases such as family violence and sexual offences. I will discuss the importance of child-participation in restorative justice processes from both children's rights and victims' needs perspectives. Abstract courtesy of the Centre for Justice and Peace Development, Massey University, http://justpeace.massey.ac.nz.

Geselev, Oleksii. “Philosophical Legal Aspects of Changing the Dominant Understanding of the Law as a Requirement for Implementing Restorative Justice in Ukraine”

This article discusses the regulatory framework for introducing restorative justice process, especially mediation, into the Ukrainian justice system.

Griffin, Diarmuid. The Juvenile Conundrum - Ireland's Responses to Youth Offending

This essay examines Ireland's treatment of juvenile offenders within the legal system. Legislation in the form of the Children Act 2001 (hereafter the 'Act') provides for drastic reform of the juvenile justice system, yet the procrastination in the implementation of the Act, and the provisions of the Act itself, raise questions of Ireland's treatment of an increasingly stigmatised sector of society. (excerpt)

Griffin, Patrick. Establishing Balanced and Restorative Justice in Your Juvenile Court: The Judge's Role

The idea behind Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ) is that of a broader juvenile court mission that includes victims, offenders and their communities as clients of the justice system, with legitimate claims on its attention and resources. The document describes: (1) BARJ fundamentals; (2) judicial leadership and BARJ; (3) where BARJ came from; (4) organizational self-assessment to determine the extent to which juvenile justice agencies and systems have embraced BARJ principles; (5) restorative justice sanctions; (6) protecting the community; (7) special considerations for rural courts; (8) evaluating BARJ initiatives; and (9) supporting one another’s leadership.