Pacific

Provides articles discussing restorative justice advancements in the Pacific. Articles appear in the order in which they were added to the site with the most recent appearing first.

Thorburn, Stan. The Arrival of Restorative Justice in the Courts: A Brief Outline of the New Zealand Experience: The paper is intended to provide a narrative about the emergence of Restorative Justice into the processes of the Courts in New Zealand.
Workman, Kim. The Future of Restorative Justice – Control, Co-option, and Co-operation: This paper explores the history of restorative justice in New Zealand and lays out a course for the future.
Bowen, Helen. 2008. Restorative and Healing Justice in Aotearoa - a way forward for schools.: This paper is an attempt to encourage schools to examine their culture of conflict; and to seek out inspired leaders from school communities to develop principled models of restorative intervention.
Three strikes: A blot on our judicial landscape: The passing into law of the Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill (the three strikes legislation) last week, was a milestone of a kind – it marked the passing into law of arguably the worst piece of criminal justice legislation in New Zealand history. While the legislation is a shocker, the way in which it was managed through the legislation process is a case study in political manipulation of the democratic process, lending weight to Lord Acton’s famous words, “All power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
Restorative justice?: from the post by Virago on KiwiBiker forum: This makes for some interesting reading: http://aranakenny.blogspot.co.nz/ It's worthwhile clicking through some of the links to get all the details, but in a nutshell: A Victoria University employee, doing caretaking and security work, steals a student's cellphone while working. Seven months later, the victim tracks the phone down using smart-phone technology, and hands the evidence to the police. The culprit is arrested and charged, and he admits the theft.
Moore, Elizabeth. The use of police cautions and youth justice conferences in NSW in 2010.: Overall, the results were in the expected direction when the hierarchy of sanctions under the YOA are considered (i.e. from police caution to YJC to proven court appearance). Very few young people in this cohort received more than three police cautions and/or YJCs. Additionally, no young person was given a YJC for homicide related offences that are excluded under the Young Offenders Act 1997 (YOA). Juvenile offenders, however, were much more likely to receive a caution or be referred to court than to be referred to a Youth Justice Conference. (excerpt)
School takes no bully approach: from Sarah Collerton's article on ABC News: ....Some parents have accused schools of ignoring bullying problems, while others have looked for strategies to stamp out "modern" schoolyard violence. But Brisbane Catholic school Villanova College is using an alternative method to tackle its bullying problem. The school, for grade five to senior boys, implemented restorative practice (RP) in 2004, inspired by an Australian Story episode on a former policeman's restorative justice work. Villanova says it no longer uses the term "bully", instead preferring "wrongdoer", "offender" or "the guy who did the wrong thing". And it regularly holds Circle Time, which involves small groups of younger students talking about things that are worrying them. In more serious cases of bullying, there is the "powerful and emotionally gruelling" Community Conference, where parents, teachers and other key stakeholders intervene.
Allard, Troy and Little, Simon and Birks, Dan and Ogilvie, James and Chrzanowski, April and Stewart, Anna. Police diversion of young offenders and Indigenous over-representation.: This study aimed to contribute to the emerging literature examining disparity in the use of police diversion and whether the impact of police diversion on re-contact varies based on Indigenous status. The study addressed three research questions: • What proportion of Indigenous and non-Indigenous young people had contact with the juvenile justice system and what was the extent of this contact? • What processes were used to respond to offending by Indigenous and non- Indigenous young people and was there disparity based on Indigenous status? • What impact did police diversion have on re-contact with the juvenile justice system for Indigenous and non-Indigenous young people? (excerpt)
When culture and restorative justice values collide: Do you have suggestions?: A request for ideas from Dan Savou of Fiji: I have tried in the past year to use the talking circle in restorative justice practices with my nieces and nephews and also with my siblings but I am posed with a challenge and that is how do I get people to talk when there is a culture of silence.. The problem I have is that in our Fijian culture, ‘silence’ is the norm. In Western society it is considered rude to look down when someone is speaking to you while in our Fijian culture it is considered a mark of respect. In the Western culture it is considered normal to have both parties engaged in a typical conversation while in the Fijian culture the older or those who have a higher social standing is the one doing most of the talking. In my context, I am the eldest in my family and my father is also the eldest child, so I hope you can understand my predicament. Most of the time I am the only one doing the talking. This is what one normally has to deal with in Fijian culture and my request to restorative justice practitioners is ‘are there options available which have worked which can bring people out their shells?’
Richards, Kelly and Gilbert, Robyn and Rosevear, Lisa. Promising interventions for reducing Indigenous juvenile offending.: A range of measures (including diversion and juvenile conferencing programs) has recently been implemented to reduce the over-representation of Indigenous juveniles in detention, and minimise the contact of juveniles with the formal criminal justice system. Diversionary measures can only have a limited impact, however, and reducing offending and reoffending have been identified as critical factors to address if the over-representation of Indigenous juveniles is to be reduced (Allard et al. 2010; Weatherburn et al. 2003). While acknowledging that other measures designed to reduce the over-representation of Indigenous juveniles are important, this paper reviews the evidence on policies and programs that reduce offending by Indigenous juveniles in Australia. Where relevant, research from comparable jurisdictions, such as New Zealand and Canada, is also discussed. (excerpt)
Warren, Julie and Fraser, Lydia. Te Hurihanga Pilot: Evaluation report.: Te Hurihanga (The Turning Point) is a Ministry of Justice response to the problem of youth offending. It is a three-year pilot that reflects concerns about trends in youth offending and lack of suitable options open to the judiciary when dealing with some young offenders. The focus of this programme is to encourage young people to turn their lives around. It is a nine to eighteen month therapeutic programme for young males (aged 14 to 16 years at entry) who have appeared before the courts and who live within the Hamilton/Waikato region. The three-phased programme aims to: reduce re-offending; hold young people accountable for their offending; and provide tailored, specialist support to young people and their whaanau/families so they can make positive choices rather then continue on current (offending) pathways. (excerpt)
Restorative justice in the spotlight: From Lyn Humphreys' article in Taranaki Daily News: A national report on the effect of restorative justice conferences is expected to reinforce their power in halting crime. A Justice Department draft report looking into the outcome of restorative justice conferences across New Zealand found that criminals who went through the process were less likely to offend, Chief District Court Judge Russell Johnson told a Taranaki Restorative Justice Trust meeting in New Plymouth earlier this month. However, the draft report, which is yet to be officially released, also appeared to show that it was not effective for criminals involved in the most serious crimes, Judge Johnson said.
Watt, Emily. A history of youth justice in New Zealand.: The Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989 revolutionised New Zealand youth justice practices, establishing an innovative set of principles and procedures to govern the response to young offenders, and to manage the role of the State in the lives of young people and their families. The founding objective of the legislation is ‘to promote the wellbeing of children, young persons, and their families and family groups’ (section 4). The Act thus seeks to empower families and communities, rather than professionals, in deciding the best measures to respond to offending behaviour in children and young people This report will explore the background to the youth justice provisions of the Act, both internationally and domestically, with the hope that an understanding of the system’s evolution will render a better insight into the principles behind this innovative piece of legislation. (excerpt)
Restorative justice for teens charged in jetski death: from the article in the New Zealand Herald: Family of Bishop Thompson, the teenager killed in a jetski accident near Rotorua in January, told a judge they never wanted to see the matter taken to court. Speaking at the invitation of Judge Chris McGuire in the Rotorua District Court this morning, family spokesman Mana Witoko said it supported the plan to have the two youths charged in connection with the death take part in a restorative justice programme.
Standing Committee on Education, Training and Young People. Inquiry into Restorative Justice Principles in Youth Settings: Submission: Robyn Holder, Victims of Crime Co-Coordinator, offers her recommendations on the benefits of restorative justice, but also cautions against over-zealous implementation in educational settings.
Standing Committee on Education, Training and Young People. Inquiry into Restorative Justice Principles in Youth Settings: Submission: Sherryl Garbutt, Minister for Children and Minister for Community Services, provides information on restorative justice programs for youth that have been implemented in Victoria.
Standing Committee on Education, Training and Young People. Inquiry into Restorative Justice Principles in Youth Settings: Submission: Jane Lomax-Smith, Minister for Education and Children's Services and Minister for Tourism, summarizes restorative justice practices in schools that have been implemented in South Australia.
Standing Committee on Education, Training and Young People. Inquiry into Restorative Justice Principles in Youth Settings: Submission: Anna Bligh, Minister for Education and Minister for the Arts, explicates some of the programs implemented in Queensland in educational settings.
Campbelltown Primary School's justice for all sees grades rise and behaviour improve: from Amy Noonan's article in Adelaide Now: Deputy principal Graeme Shugg said the effect of restorative practices at Campbelltown was immediate. "Teachers reported change within two weeks in their classes," he said. "We empower kids to question and take responsibility for what they've done and repair the harm and allow the victim to have a say. The bottom line is, the people involved in the problem are the best people to solve the problem." Suspensions dropped from 86 in 2003 to just 33 last year. In 2003, students were sent to the principal for discipline 683 times. Last year there were 76 referrals to the office.
Braithwaite, John and Charlesworth, Hilary and Dunn, Leah and Reddy, Peter Damien. Reconciliation and architecture of commitment. Sequencing peace in Bougainville.: It has been a peace that has progressively become more resilient since 1998. The sequential sustaining of the peace has been patient—what Volker Boege (2006) has called a slow-food approach to peacebuilding. One wave of bottom-up reconciliation has built on previous waves, expanding the geographical reach of the peace and the breadth and depth of forgiveness across the society. The architecture of the top-down peace settlement has also been sequenced, with linkages that require one side to meet a commitment before the other side will deliver their next undertaking in an agreed sequence (Regan 2008; Wolfers 2006a). In this architecture, international peacekeepers played an exemplary role in securing the credible commitments. While peacekeepers were rarely hands-on mediators of the indigenous reconciliation, one of their greatest contributions was to initiate conversations between local enemies who were afraid of each other, allowing initial meetings to occur under the peacekeepers’ security umbrella. (excerpt0

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