Te Ara Whakatika

Inside this issue

Restorative justice has the potential to make communities safer places, says an Auckland judge.

Police and prison officers in the United Kingdom are being trained by New Zealanders.

Interest Increases in Pilots

Interest in restorative justice is expected to be intensified by the introduction of the Sentencing Act on July 1.

"I've had enquiries already from defence counsel wanting to get their heads around restorative justice because of the new Act," says Hamilton's court-referred restorative justice coordinator Jim Berkett.

The pilots in Auckland, Waitakere, Hamilton and Dunedin have now had close to 400 referrals. More than 100 conferences have been completed, with others in the pipeline. Up to 40 percent of referrals go on to conference. When cases do not go ahead it is usually because victims have declined to take part, but sometimes it is because the offender is not considered suitable.

"I just seem to be getting busier and busier," says Auckland's coordinator Islay Brown, who has noticed that more referrals are going through to conferences now than in the early stages of the pilots. This may be due in part to more victims being aware of the benefits of the process as it becomes better known.

Islay is receiving a number of inquiries from lawyers outside the pilot area. Some are having their cases transferred to the Auckland District Court to take part in the pilot, while others are using community-based restorative justice groups once Islay makes them aware of their existence.

Waitakere co-ordinator Garry Summers says the conferences are coming up with some innovative plans that show people are thinking laterally. "Victims don't just want an apology and to be repaid. They are looking at other things such as fundraising activities or the offender working on their property.

"We're getting a number of cases that involve serious violence and drink-driving causing death. It's good that the Courts are recognising the potential for victims in using restorative justice in these cases."

Dunedin co-ordinator Cathy Brown (pictured above at left) says there is a general feeling that the pilot is bedding in. "We all understand a bit better what we need to do." She says the police hierachy has been very supportive in Dunedin, with a local police inspector endeavouring to ensure that the officer in charge of a case attends the conference if it goes ahead.

Jim says he is constantly amazed by the outcomes of conferences. "Often both victim and offender comment that the conference has helped them see another point of view."

Growing Experience for Facilitator

Being a facilitator for the court-referred restorative justice pilot has been an "absolutely huge growing experience" for a woman who has notched up 14 conferences.

"I walk away feeling I have done my little bit to make the world a better place," says facilitator Sharon Barton of Waipareira Restorative Justice Providers.

Sharon (pictured right) says that she has seen the results of a conference having a "ripple effect in repairing relationships within families and their wider communities."

Sharon has "bumped into participants afterwards. Without exception the feedback has been extremely positive. On more than one occasion participants have commented that their participation in a conference has literally turned their lives around. I'm honoured to be part of that process."

In one such case, Sharon met an offender several months after he was given a chance at a job as a result of a conference. He was working hard and had stopped using drugs. "He hugged me and thanked me for encouraging him to be the best he could."

Sharon's background is in management and counselling. She has also trained in Maori language and culture.

"The more conferences I do the less I feel the focus is about me."

Sharon believes that if she puts in the work to prepare people for a conference, the process is more likely to take care of itself. "I never know what to expect. People come from such a wide range of backgrounds and beliefs. I've been from one extreme to the other. If I go in open-minded and let the process happen within the guidelines of the pilot training that was provided, it is a very natural process.

"I only step in if the process breaks down. If there are silences, tensions or awkwardness I am now more inclined to let it go. These are often times of high emotion which deserve an appropriate amount of recognition and respect. When conversation happens, it happens naturally. If I jump in too quickly it turns the process back to me and it's not about me."

Sharon says that sometimes it is a challenge to balance out different cultures, especially if English is a second language for the offender or victim.

"My role is to get across to participants what the process is about so that they can make an informed decision about taking part."

Sometimes this involves having to ‘undo' preconceived ideas - some of which come from police and lawyers.

Sharon gets "really disappointed" if she doesn't get the opportunity to meet a victim or offender and explain the process. "Some people absolutely refuse to meet to find out what it involves."

Sometimes this is because they have been told not to take any reparation, or they think that restorative justice will be a soft option for the offender.

In one case, an offender believed he would be asked to repay large sums of money he couldn't afford, and it would reflect badly on him at sentencing.

"It is disappointing when they have some opinion before hand, and you don't have a chance to meet them and give them the full picture, mostly for their own sake."

Police who have attended the conferences have been "absolutely shocked to see what really happens. They say things like ‘I never had any idea how much courage it takes for an offender to take part'.

"Conferences are always magic. They are almost mystical. Words like healing and reconciliation don't mean squat when you see people hugging and crying. It is indescribable."

Video and Workbook Produced

A video and workbook to help in the training of people involved in the court-referred restorative justice project will soon be completed.

The video (extract pictured) shows a restorative justice conference process, using experienced facilitators and actors in the roles of participants. Project manager Alison Hill says that the resources will be extremely useful as an additional tool for facilitators and co-ordinators.

Impact Throughout Country

People involved in the criminal justice system will need to make themselves aware of restorative justice processes once the new sentencing and parole legislation is inacted on July 1.

We have ensured that the new legislation authorises judges to use restorative justice.

This will have an impact right throughout the country. It will strengthen the credibility of all of those working on restorative justice - whether in the community or in the court-referred pilots - because it puts restorative justice in the mainstream.

There is provision in the new legislation for judges to look at alternatives to prison and to take into account recommendations of any restorative justice conferences and processes that have been held.

There are also a number of changes to communitybased sanctions to improve their effectiveness.

The offences for which restorative justice can be considered are not confined to a narrow range of minor offences. The law recognises that restorative justice is applicable to all offending.

However, the boundaries around the court-referred pilots are not changed by the new Sentencing Act. The pilots will still deal with the same range of offences.

Offences outside that range will not be referred through the restorative justice coordinator, but lawyers dealing with those cases may be assisted to make contact with restorative justice providers willing to set up and run a restorative justice conference.

Matt Robson
Minister for Courts

Safer Communities

Restorative justice has the potential to make communities safer places, says Judge Thorburn of Auckland.

His 12 years experience working on the bench and previously as a lawyer have shown him that the traditional criminal justice system doesn't make offenders acknowledge or accept responsibility.

"The idea of sentencing and punishment is remote from the reality of what the person has done to the victim. The victim also rarely has any connection in the process and is still seething and fuming."

Judge Thorburn says this imposes a cost on the community socially in feelings of anger towards criminals and also in monetary terms because the offending cycle is not broken, causing ongoing expense for more sentences.

"We want to produce people who have learnt lessons and make the community safer.

"I am very interested in alternatives to the traditional way, and have a growing interest in restorative justice to address some and sometimes all of these things."

Judge Thorburn says that the court-referred restorative justice pilot has been quietly integrated into the list courts in Auckland.

"I think it's very important at this developmental stage that those conferences that go ahead are ones with lots of potential, rather than weak fragile cases that are not going to teach us too much.

"Unfortunately I think the public's understanding of restorative justice has a way to go. Offenders will tell you it's not an easy option. I met two prison inmates who had been through the process and it was described by them as more fearful than waiting in the cells of the court to be sentenced."

Judge Thorburn says that it is important for all of those involved in the criminal justice system to get behind the process. "The object is to make safer communities. If this process reduces reoffending for some, it has to be good."

Restorative justice gives a better deal for victims. "We are already beginning to see material before the court demonstrating that victims are saying ‘I am content with this outcome. I'm more concerned with this person getting a job and paying me back than them being in prison'. We've never had victims playing such a part before."

He says the next step in the pilot is to ensure that plans agreed to at conferences do in fact happen. Offenders who fail to complete a plan can expect to be dealt with "in the old way without any discounts.

"I'd very much like to see the community start to appreciate that there are other ways we can deal with the problem of crime."

Restorative justice is so much more sensible in many cases. "We don't always have to talk in purely retributive terms about crime."

Overseas Interest

Police and prison officers in the United Kingdom are being trained by New Zealanders who were involved in the court-referred restorative justice facilitator training.

New Zealand facilitator trainers Helen Bowen and Jim Boyack have recently completed a week-long training workshop for 16 police and four prison officers from throughout the United Kingdom.

The "train-the-trainers" workshop, run in England's Thames Valley Police College at Sulhamstead, will enable the participants to train other officers and prison staff in preparing and running restorative justice conferences for serious adult offenders.

The British restorative justice experience has to date been mostly confined to youth offenders.

The British Home Office has set up a NZ$10 million fund to pilot adult restorative justice throughout the country. Thames Valley police are at the forefront of restorative justice experience in the United Kingdom, having run a restorative justice process for five years as an initiative of their chief constable.

Helen and Jim, of Restorative Justice Programmes Ltd, were both amazed at how far ahead New Zealand was in its development of restorative justice for adults.

"It was very satisfying for me to recognise the extent to which New Zealand is leading the world in adult restorative justice processes," says Jim.

"The accolades accorded the New Zealand criminal justice vision by senior police officers and policy advisers in the Home Office should give satisfaction to those in Government responsible for the Sentencing Act 2002."

Helen says the Home Office was very interested in New Zealand's court-referred restorative justice experiences and research, and was keen to share information.

"There is tremendous interest from the Home Office because we are so much further down the track than them."

The British experience has enabled Helen and Jim to refine their training. Participants included many who had been training others in using restorative justice with youth. "They were very much up to speed and were extraordinarily challenging. They questioned us relentlessly."

The role plays, which comprised half the training, were particularly effective. Participants took on their parts so well that serious periods of debriefing and winding down were needed after the mock conferences. "Even they were surprised by how much they went into their roles and learned," says Helen.

"What we brought them was a perspective that restorative justice is potentially relevant in every criminal case, no matter how serious the charge, or how old the offender," says Jim.

"Those at the training took heart from the potential we were experiencing in New Zealand with adult offenders."

Two areas where Jim believes New Zealand could learn from the United Kingdom are in the lead being taken by police and the potential for restorative justice in prisons.

"The (British) police have had the vision and courage to step outside their traditional role of detecting crime and prosecuting it."

Helen and Jim stopped off in the Bahamas on the way to the United Kingdom to do some training for restorative justice community groups, police and prosecutors, at the request of the Bahamas Archbishop, Lawrence Burke.

Te Ara Whakatika is produced by the Department for Courts to ensure the wide community of people who support the restorative justice movement are kept informed about the court-referred restorative justice project. The items in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department for Courts or official policies. Articles in this newsletter may be copied and reproduced, but Te Ara Whakatika must be acknowledged. Inquiries regarding the court-referred restorative justice project should be directed to: Alison Hill, Department for Courts, PO Box 2750, Wellington, Phone (04) 918 8839, Fax (04) 918 8820, email: alison.hill@courts.govt.nz; or to co-ordinators Islay Brown (Auckland) Phone 025 745 141, (09) 916 9000; Garry Summers (Waitakere) Phone 025 271 5148, (09) 916 5268; Jim Berkett (Hamilton) Phone 025 271 5203, (07) 957 7700; Cathy Brown (Dunedin) Phone 025 271 5164, (03) 471 5170. Te Ara Whakatika mailing list inquiries should be directed to: Abpost, PO Box 38756, Petone, Wellington Fax (04) 568 3400.