RJ Online Articles

These short articles featuring developments within the African region first appeared in the monthly edition of Restorative Justice Online.

A Ministry of Reconciliation: The Umuvumu Tree Project in Rwanda

With the imminent release of thousands of genocide prisoners angry over eight years of imprisonment without trial into communities still bitter over the violence and death, Prison Fellowship Rwanda, a local NGO, saw the potential for renewed violence and decided to act.

Challenging crime and criminal justice systems in Africa: Towards restoration of Afrocentric justice

Don Omale reports on an international seminar conducted in Abuja, Nigeria on 8 October 2009: The seminar organised by a network of African organisations working on peace, security and conflict created an opportunity aimed at influencing reforms in the criminal justice systems in Africa. It also serves as a dialogue forum for drawing attention to the effects of crime and defective criminal justice systems on the sustainability of the democratic and developmental process of Africa. Recommendations from the seminar also aim to complement the formal National Economic Partnership for African Development (NEPAD)-Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) process.

Community Service in Uganda

On November 6th 2001, the Deputy Chief Justice of Uganda announced the official implementation of Community Service orders in Uganda. The announcement marked the culmination of several years of development and preparation. Originally intended to lower prison populations and provide more humane treatment for offenders, the new policies provide space for participation by victims and the community, while creating room for the growing use of restorative process.

Court Ruling Upholds Principles of Restorative Justice, Overturns Shaming Sanction

In January, a ruling from the High Court of South Africa (Eastern Cape Division) set aside a lower court ruling requiring a defendant convicted of six counts of fraud to publicly wear a placard announcing her guilt and asking her victims for forgiveness. In setting aside this one aspect of the sentence, the High Court referenced both the unconstitutionality of the sanction and its departure from the principles of restorative justice.

Court Ruling Upholds Principles of Restorative Justice, Overturns Shaming Sanction

In January, a ruling from the High Court of South Africa (Eastern Cape Division) set aside a lower court ruling requiring a defendant convicted of six counts of fraud to publicly wear a placard announcing her guilt and asking her victims for forgiveness. In setting aside this one aspect of the sentence, the High Court referenced both the unconstitutionality of the sanction and its departure from the principles of restorative justice.

Editor. Court Ruling Upholds Principles of Restorative Justice, Overturns Shaming Sanction

"In January, a ruling from the High Court of South Africa (Eastern Cape Division) set aside a lower court ruling requiring a defendant convicted of six counts of fraud to publicly wear a placard announcing her guilt and asking her victims for forgiveness. In setting aside this one aspect of the sentence, the High Court referenced both the unconstitutionality of the sanction and its departure from the principles of restorative justice." (Abstract)

Editor. Pickering, J. 2008. Antoinette Saayman vs. The State. Case No:CA&R 82/2007. High Court of South Africa. (Eastern Cape Division).

"In January 2008, a ruling from the High Court of South Africa (Eastern Cape Division) set aside a lower court ruling requiring a defendant convicted of six counts of fraud to publicly wear a placard announcing her guilt and asking her victims for forgiveness. In setting aside this one aspect of the sentence, the High Court referenced both the unconstitutionality of the sanction and its departure from the principles of restorative justice." (Abstract)

Editor. South African Programme Shows Promise

In April 2007, the Phoenix Justice and Restoration programme (JARP) began offering restorative justice and other alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services in the Phoenix community of the South African province of KwaZulu Natal. The pilot project sought to lower court backlogs and to help those in the community develop ways of responding to crime and conflict without resorting to the court system. This article summarises the evaluation results from the first few months of Phoenix JARP from a report prepared by Professor Herman Conradie of the Department of Criminology of the University of South Africa, Hema Hargovan and Dr. VR Chetty from the Department of Criminology of the University of KwaZulu Natal. A link to the full report is included.

Finding Community Alternatives in the Gambia

The Canadian International Development Agency recently awarded Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, a grant to launch a Community Policing and Restorative Justice Project in the African country the Gambia. Dr. Stephen Perrott, of the Department of Psychology, provides a description of the project and its goals.

Jenneker, Madeleine and Cartwright, John and Shearing, Clifford. Local Capacity Governance in South Africa: A model for peaceful coexistence

One of the most profound effects of the marginalisation of poor communities is their loss of faith in their own capacity to make a constructive difference to their lives, leading to an unnecessary degree of dependency on outside agencies for the resolution of community problems. The Zwelethemba model of local governance, however, proposes and demonstrates that good governance and the building of peaceful communities requires the mobilisation of local knowledge and capacity through the medium of sustainable institutional arrangements. When these local capacity institutions have been built and are working effectively, they are in a position to establish genuine partnerships with state agencies and other professional service-providers, to the benefit of all concerned. (excerpt)

Juvenile Justice Reforms Pending in South Africa

A bill fostering the inclusion of restorative justice principles and practices for juveniles is still awaiting parliamentary action in South Africa. Originally introduced in 2002, the Child Justice Bill would create a consistent system for responding to youth crime by consolidating current practices and legislation with international standards for the treatment of juvenile offenders.

Making Sense of North American and South African Differences in the Practice of Restorative Justice

Cultural realities in North America and South Africa influence the way practice is undertaken. In this article, Susan Sharpe and George Lai Thom explore how those differences impact the practice of victim offender mediation in those two contexts.

Restorative Justice Approach Launched by South Africa Department of Correctional Services

The South Africa Department of Correctional Services held a conference in November to launch its new "restorative justice approach". Although other government departments have included restorative justice in their policy documents and the government has sponsored pilot projects, this was certainly the most highly publicized policy statement on restorative justice by the South African government to date.

Restorative Justice in Sentencing: South Africa

In a recent sentencing decision in a murder case, Judge E. Bertelsmann of the High Court of South Africa wrote of the importance of restorative justice in the South Africa context. The full decision is presented here with a downloadable version attached.

South African NGO Furthers the Implementation of Restorative Justice

Khulisa, a South African crime prevention organization, has made significant inroads applying restorative justice in a society that has faced significant increases in crime over the past decade. Khulisa, whose name means “to nurture the development of a person”, uses an array of programs to assist children at risk and young offenders. In addition to working throughout the country, Khulisa also partners with a variety of governmental departments.

Thom, George Lai and Sharpe, Susan. Making Sense of North American and South African Differences in the Practice of Restorative Justice

Cultural realities in North America and South Africa influence the way practice is undertaken. In this article, Susan Sharpe and George Lai Thom explore how those differences impact the practice of victim offender mediation in those two contexts.

Victim Offender Conferencing Pilot Project: South Africa

The Victim Offender Conferencing (VOC) pilot project in South Africa was created in 1999 by a coalition of organizations working in restorative justice. This excerpt is from a 2002 research report compiled by Amanda Dissel, manager of the Criminal Justice Programme of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, with links to the full-text of the available research reports.