Asia
Provides articles discussing restorative justice advancements in Asia. Articles appear in the order in which they were added to the site with the most recent appearing first.
- Boonsit, Angkana. Restorative Justice by my experience
- Fortunately, the Director-General of the Department of Probation, Dr. Kittipong Kittayarak, is the leading thinker on restorative justice in Thailand. So, there is a master plan of the justice system which supports restorative justice. The vision in this plan is “to develop the justice system by enabling effective use and also enhancing a just and fair, restorative and peaceful society beyond equilibrium between law enforcement and human dignity”. And the mission is “to promote and to develop the justice system and its mechanisms regarding rights/liberty of people, the community and other organizations. The rights of the victim are emphasized for enhancing a vigorous and harmonious society.” (excerpt)
- A Restorative Justice Audit of the Chinese Criminal Justice System
- The Chinese Criminal Justice System is very different from Western models. While it is often characterized as punitive and retributive, the Chinese system does involve some restorative elements. Xinzhou Zhang, a Chinese police officer, prepared this audit while earning his Msc in Criminal Justice and Public Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
- Restorative Justice in Thailand: Lessons Learned
- The Thai government began experimenting with restorative practices in 2003 with the implementation of family group conferences for juvenile offenders. In 2004, the probation services began a pilot project using restorative justice in 11 probation offices. Angkana Boonsit from the Thai probation Department shares her experiences and lessons learned in implementing restorative justice in Thai cultural setting. This speech was originally given at the at the ‘Restorative Justice in Emerging Countries’ ancillary session at the 11th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.
- Using Traditional Practices to Improve the Justice System
- Indigenous justice practices and philosophies have been important in the development of restorative justice processes such as conferencing and circles. Increasingly, governments, development agencies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are realizing the potential of such traditional practices to meet the justice needs of marginalized populations, resolve issues of court backlogs, and to enable communities to own and resolve their own conflicts. In the Philippines, such problems are being resolved by enhancing traditional systems. Based on the use of mediation and conciliation by local elected leaders, the Barangay Justice System (BJS) is the focus of an NGO effort to provide access to justice and empower communities to participate in justice reform.
- Responding to Juvenile Crime in Thailand
- Families and victims to get their say and Families are to get rehab role are two headlines appearing in the Bangkok Post in June. The articles refer to an announcement by the Juvenile Observation and Protection Department of its plans to institute family group conferencing with juvenile offenders beginning July 1. The Department hopes to lower the number of juveniles held in detention centres through this programme.
- Developing Holistic Approaches in Singapore.
- Joseph Ozawa is the Senior Director of the Family and Juvenile Justice Centre (FJJC) of the Subordinate Courts of Singapore. He is active in FJJC’s development of restorative and holistic practices. In this article, he describes three programs now in use in Singapore and relates how the format is important in the Asian context.
- Japan and Restorative Practices
- The emphasis on apology and forgiveness in Japanese society has led many commentators, such as John O. Haley, to point to Japan as an example of how restorative justice can affect crime and society. Despite this prominence of apology and forgiveness in explaining lower crime rates in Japan, these mechanisms have remained informal and tend to be offender focused. Recent activities seek to change this reality.
- Peacemaking in Indonesia
- In 1999, Duane Ruth-Heffelbower took a leave of absence from his graduate faculty position at Fresno Pacific University’s Center for Peacemaking and Conflict Studies to accept an invitation to join the faculty of Duta Wacana Christian University (UKDW) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia under an appointment from the Mennonite Central Committee.
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