Restorative Justice: Resolution of Criminal Conflict
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Introduction...................................................................................................................... 1 Restorative Justice - Resolution of Criminal Conflict ......................................... 2 Yukon Restorative Justice ...................... ... ...................................................................4 The Yukon Government's Strategy an Restorative Justice ................................... 5 Review of the Law ...........................................................................................................9 Evolution of Restorative Justice in Canada ...................................................................22 Literature Review........................................................................................................... 28 Client Satisfaction............................................................................................ 29 Recidivism .......................................................................................................... 34 Sumrnary ......................................................................................................... 34 Overview of Yukon Programs ................................................................................... 30 Historical Information........................................................................................ 38 Community Justice Projects in the Yukon ........................................................... 40 Statistical Review .......................... ... .......................................................................46 Quantitative..................................................................................................... -46 Qualitative .......................................................................................................54 Summary .......................................................................................................................63 Review ................................................................................................................64 Recommendations.............................................................................................. 65 Aff innations .........................................................................................................70 References .................................................................................................................... 71 Appendix "A" .............................................................................................................. A-1 Appendix "B"................................................................................................................ 6-1 Appendix 'C ................................................................................................................C-1 Appendix "Dm............................................................................................................... 0-1 Appendix "E n ................................................................................................................E-1 Appendix 'F ................................................................................................................ FI Appendix "G"............................................................................................................... G-1 Appendix 'H" ................................................................................................................H-1 INTRODUCTION The idea of restorative justice, regardless of the wide diversity of its actual implementation, can be described as a method in which we deal with offences using the knowledge, wisdom and involvement of victims, offenders and community, to reconcile or restore the parties to previous ro crime conditions. The results of such a process should include parts or al1 of the following: + restoration of harmony, repair of damage, physical and psychological(to some extent) + re-integration of the offender Justice in Canada has become a system that is increasingly institutionalized, bureaucratized and less persona1 than it was previously. This has resulted in the words victim and community king dropped from mainstream justice and replaced with the word "the state". In this realm of justice an adversarial system has taken command of determinhg right from wrong, and in the process removed it from the hands of those most affected and placed it in the hands of a legal system that speaks of punishment, and retribution without any concem for restoration or reconciliation. In 1984 Canada introduced restorative justice through the Young Offenders Act, identifying it as alternative justice for young persons charged with offences. This invoduction of a reconciliation process was unheard of in mainstream justice, although it had been practiced in Aboriginal communities for centuries and seen in European and non-Western society in earlier times. As this process became more accepted we saw the advent of restorative justice into mainstream society dealing with adult offenders as well as the previously accepted youth matters. Restorative justice is a set of principles that guide a society, community, and social agencies in 1 dealing with crime in a restorative manner rather than a reuibutive manner. In restorative justice there is opportunity for the involvement of victims and offenders (including their respective community and family members) in a problem solving approach that looks at the reasons for crime, finding solutions based on those reasons and not the result of the crime alone. Restorative Justice In restorative justice, the offender is involved in a shaming, process by which a person is made to accept responsibility for their actions and be subjected to discussion surrounding the actions and effect of those actions on the victim. The offender takes full responsibility for their actions that have caused the hm.This process shows accountability and a willingness to be answerable to the victim and community. The shaming is done in a re-integrative way in a caring and supportive context, allowing the parties to work iogether in a collaborative manner, not seen in the mainstrearn adversarial justice system. The proponents of restorative justice believe this approach to be more fair, satisfying, efficient and effective than the conventional, court-based, and adversarial approach to justice. The difficulty in this is that there hasn't been a real client based analysis done to justify these opinions. There are also senous flaws identified in the recidivism rate information that has been gathered previously. This new (albeit ancient) way of dealing with offenders in the criminal justice system seems to have the feelings, beliefs and values of the parties involved as the foundation for an improved and more accountable justice system. The process of restorative justice is meant to be inclusionary and overall more satisfactory for al1 panies involved. 2 To consider the maintenance of the prograrns in the Yukon, and the expansion of the specific and further programs throughout the Yukon it is necessary that the RCMP and Justice officiais overall, perform longitudinal research on restorative justice, using a compare and contrast style, between mainstream justice and restorative justice. It is necessary that in doing this we utilize direct satisfaction as the rneasunng tool, and consider the comparative recidivism at the same iime. Such research should identify any concems of the affected parties and allow the RCMP and Justice officials and cornmittees to make recomrnendations to assist in the expansion and edification of the process. WKON RESTORATIVE JUSTICE Introduction In considering the rationale behina the movement toward new foms of justice, the work that has been done in the Yukon and those who are involved in the development of this justice system provides a case example. Communities which can see that mainstream justice is not satisfying their needs or the needs of victims and offenders drive the restorative justice movement in the Yukon. Recidivism rates within mainstream justice reach into the eightieth percentile, in some studies, so it is difficult for a 20% success rate to be considered a success. As a result, Yukoners and communities overall have decided that there must be a better way to deal with crime and criminals and have made the necessary moves to implement such a change. The RCMP in the Yukon has agreed that the movement frorn mainstream justice into a system that has reconciliation and restoration at its core is fundamental to a more appropriate system of justice from most crimes and criminals.