Restorative Justice Programme reports success

The Restorative Justice Programme is reporting successes in resolution of minor offences where offenders are referred to the programme for dispute resolution, disclosed Oral Taylor, August Town restorative justice parish officer under the Ministry of Justice.

“We have a success rate of 90 per cent of the cases referred to us, whether from community policing or from the courts, the participants arrive at a satisfactory agreement whereby the offender remains accountable to the agreement made at the session and were able to fulfil the agreement that they committed to,” he stated.

Taylor made the disclosure while addressing a Violence Prevention Alliance Steering Committee Meeting recently, where he was the guest speaker.

Conflict resolution

Restorative justice is a type of alternative dispute resolution method, focused on achieving conflict resolution through the use of conferences.

Taylor, however, noted that these resolutions were in minor charges, which he said can sometimes spiral into serious crimes.

He said Jamaica has been leading the Caribbean in implementing this type of transformational justice. The aim of the programme is to reduce the criminal backlog by diverting cases from the formal justice system and also resolving conflicts at the community level.

Other aims include the elimination of the reprisal culture by enabling individuals to have access to a dispute resolution process at the early stage of conflict and avoid an escalation to violent reactions.

Some of the minor offences that are referred to the programme are: unlawful wounding, assaults, theft of property, malicious destruction of property, cruelty to child, threat, public nuisance, and breaches to the Noise Abatement Act.

Taylor said that one of the shortcomings of restorative justice is that it is more reactive rather than proactive.

“When it comes to community engagement and working together within communities, I believe that we need more interventions that are proactive in orientation because restorative justice is meant to enable persons to manage conflicts, but in reality, restorative justice is happening after the fact as opposed to before the fact,” he said.

He, however, noted that the programme works with persons in communities where the restorative justice centres are located and offers sensitisation sessions as well as training. There are currently 14 parish justice centres and seven restorative justice centres in the island.