Te Ara Whakatika

Inside this issue

Northern Ireland is seeking inspiration from New Zealand's experience with restorative justice.

Dunedin lawyer Pene Williams believes there is a place for restorative justice, but "everybody involved needs to be in the right head space for it."

Listening to the Victims

Making sure adequate time is spent listening to the needs of victims is critical to successful restorative justice, says a leading international practitioner in the field.

Howard Zehr (pictured) spent four weeks in New Zealand attending hui on restorative justice. Six hui organised by Massey University's Centre for Justice and Peace Development (Albany) brought together policy makers, practitioners and academics to look at issues threatening the integrity of restorative justice. Howard is a writer, lecturer, practitioner and teacher in criminal justice, and considered one of the founders of the contemporary restorative justice movement.

"Restorative justice needs to be victim-orientated, but often those involved have come from an offender bias," he says. "A lot of people come to restorative justice wanting to do something for offenders. They need a lot of reorientation to become victim-orientated. Victim advocates and victims need to be looking over the shoulder (of the process) all the time, helping to plan and oversee it."

Howard questions whether enough time is spent by those involved in restorative justice worldwide listening to victims' needs - "making sure it is convenient for them. Sometimes people say they called the victims and they didn't want to take part. It takes a lot to attend to the victims' needs - a willingness to listen to some pretty hostile stuff to get to the point of being ready for a conference."

As well as attending the hui, Howard has spent time talking to people involved in the court-referred restorative justice pilot, facilitators, community groups and judges.

Although he says his findings are more impressionistic than systematic, he believes "there are really good things happening with the pilots.

"I'm glad to see the pilots have taken off. I'm glad to see they're doing an evaluation and I'm glad to see the use of community people as trained facilitators.

"I'm really enthusiastic about the pilots, so when I say critical things I'm not casting doubt on what's happening.

"I love the use of community volunteers as facilitators, but wonder if they will burn out if they are asked to handle too much of the process, such as reports and monitoring."

Active follow-up and monitoring is critical to the restorative justice process, he says. "Victims may find the conference good, but the real trust is built by following through on agreements."

Howard believes that people want ongoing feedback on progress in the court-referred pilots. Research results should be made available as soon as findings come in so that "people can adjust what might be wrong and expand on what is right as they go along."

One of the issues being faced by restorative justice worldwide is gatekeeping. Those involved need to look at the process of who makes decisions on referrals. "People often have biases about what cases they think should be referred. A pro-active referral system is essential."

Howard would like to see New Zealand set up some sort of community-based association for networking, emotional support and self monitoring. "You need to set up best practise models for restorative justice to maintain its integrity. I've heard the death penalty called restorative justice because the term is in vogue."

He also raised the issue of the indigenous role in restorative justice. "We give a lot of lip service to RJ being indigenous. I worry about whether white progressive folks have a tendency to do something and then claim it as having indigenous roots." Howard's latest book - The Little Book of Restorative Justice -  is part of a series on criminal justice topics. It gives a simple explanation of the process in 60 pages.

Howard particularly enjoyed spending time with people involved in youth justice family group conferencing in New Zealand. "I wanted to say how much New Zealand youth justice has meant to the rest of the world. I do think people here don't realise that. It has been very important and has had a lot of influence in the United States and places like South Africa, where a new bill is being introduced creating a juvenile justice system that incorporates family group conferencing."

That cross fertilisation is something he sees as critical to the future of the whole movement - whether it be across continents or within New Zealand.

"In North America we've been learning a lot from youth justice in New Zealand, and we have 25 years experience in adult and community-based restorative justice."

The Department for Courts is interested in any feedback on Howard's comments. Please forward these to alison.hill@courts.govt.nz

Inspired by the New Zealand Experience

Northern Ireland is the latest country to seek inspiration from New Zealand's experiences with restorative justice.

Judge David Smyth (pictured), from County Antrim, was in New Zealand recently to study the youth drug court being piloted in Christchurch, as well as family group conferences and other restorative justice initiatives.

He said that restorative justice was the focus of a large part of Northern Ireland's recent criminal justice review, which in part resulted from the country's peace process.

A steering group for restorative justice has been set up in Northern Ireland, and family group conferencing - modelled on the New Zealand system - is about to be introduced.

The concept will be piloted for two years, before going nationwide. Ten co-ordinators are to be employed for the pilot. Judge Smyth, who has a strong interest in restorative justice, was pleased to have an opportunity to discuss the New Zealand court-referred pilot with Department for Court officials and community facilitators.

He was impressed with the range and calibre of the volunteer facilitators, the types of cases selected for inclusion in the pilots, and the high rate of participation by victims.

Northern Ireland has a similar population structure to New Zealand, with a mixture of medium-sized towns, one large city, and a relatively small population.

But Judge Smyth said that Northern Ireland also has specific problems that will need to be taken into account in developing restorative justice.

These include paramilitary influences, distrust of the police and lack of community involvement in restorative justice-type practices.

"Whereas New Zealand's court-referred pilot can draw on community people with many years experience in the process, we need to take one step at a time and the first is to introduce family group conferencing for juvenile offenders."

Incorporating restorative justice for adults will be "further down the track," he said.

'Worth Putting Time Into'

When the manager of a large factory arrived at work to discover the place had been burgled and tagged by a group of young men smoking dope, he felt violated and angry.

His staff, who spent up to 60 hours a week in the factory, were like family.

After the burglary, staff morale fell, the manager had difficulty getting people to work late, and he had to spend several thousand dollars to try to prevent further break-ins.

One of the offenders, an 18-year-old unemployed man, pleaded guilty to the burglary and his case was referred for a court-referred restorative justice conference.

The factory manager's attitude towards the offender was very negative - until ten minutes after meeting him.

He could see that the young man, who looked him in the eye and apologised, was "worth putting time into."

During the restorative justice conference, the offender agreed to the manager's suggestion that he work in the factory for 80 hours as reparation.

The Court remanded the young man to allow the work to be carried out.

The manager was so impressed with the attitude of the young man, who completed the work in two weeks, that he offered him a full-time job at the factory.

Sharing of Experience and Ideas

Restorative justice is an evolving process, and one which will clearly benefit from the sharing of experiences and ideas among those involved in the process, whether as part of the court-referred pilots or the various community-based initiatives throughout New Zealand.

As other articles in this issue of Te Ara Whakatika show, there is also much to be gained from an exchange of ideas with restorative justice advocates in other countries.

The open exchange of information and ideas between courtreferred restorative justice co-ordinators and trainees was one of the features of the facilitator training programme held in Auckland recently.

The Department for Courts intends to make the manual used to train facilitators available to communitybased restorative justice groups via the internet. I applaud this initiative by the department to share the experiences of the pilots with the wider restorative justice community.

Margaret Wilson
Minister for Courts

High Skill Levels Shown by Facilitator Trainees

A school teacher, counsellor, minister of religion, community co-ordinators, lawyers and others studying in areas related to restorative justice were among 20 people who took part in a training programme for facilitators for the court-referred pilots in Auckland in mid-October.

The training included a mixture of role playing, group exercises and discussions, and use of a video and manual produced specifically for the court-referred pilot. The video, which uses a combination of actors, real facilitators and others involved in the pilot, is useful for stimulating discussion about the appropriateness of various techniques used in facilitation.

Waitakere restorative justice co-ordinator Garry Summers was impressed by the high skill levels demonstrated by the trainees, particularly in communication and cross-cultural work. He was also "humbled" by their commitment and desire to be involved in the pilot.

Auckland co-ordinator Islay Brown said there was a real mixture of experience among the trainees. It was also encouraging to see more Pacific people coming forward as facilitators.

"Discussions between the trainees and co-ordinators were particularly valuable. The training gave them a good overview of restorative justice, and prepared them well for their next stage in the process as co-facilitators."

Pictured above: Some of the facilitators who took part in training run by Garry Summers and Islay Brown for the court-referred restorative justice pilot.

Restorative Justice: A Lawyer's Perspective

Dunedin lawyer Pene Williams believes there is a place for restorative justice in the criminal justice system, but "everybody involved needs to be in the right head space for it."

She thinks the court-referred restorative justice process can be very positive, although much depends on the personalities of the complainants and victims.

Some years ago Pene was involved with two cases of vehicular manslaughter.

"In one case we had a meeting between my client, who pleaded guilty, and the family of the deceased. It was really positive. In the other case, the circumstances were different. The family was not ready for any kind of meeting. The contrast was interesting."

One of Pene's more recent clients was "totally blown away" by the court-referred restorative justice process.

"He had a long criminal history, but had already decided he wanted to turn his life around, even as he was committing the offences. For him, doing restorative justice was very important, as much as anything else because it confirmed he was going the right way.

"It bolstered the choices he had made at a time when he might have been tempted to backslide a little. It was very much a positive reinforcement for him."

It is important that restorative justice is optional, says Pene.

"There are going to be complainants who frankly are too angry or too vengeful to be involved; some won't be interested, and others will be too scared.

"I've had clients who have pleaded guilty in cases which have fallen within the criteria for restorative justice, but I haven't even considered referring them. If a guilty plea has been made grudgingly, I'm not sure it is appropriate to refer them to restorative justice."

In other cases, she has referred clients because she felt it important that the complainants see how pitiful they really are.

"Often there's a tendency to demonise criminals. It can be important for complainants to see that this is just another person who is struggling to get along the same as everyone else. They might be making bad choices, but they're trying to rectify things."

Pene (pictured) has been impressed by some of the creative outcomes of restorative justice conferences.

"It is fascinating to see the agreements people will come to to enable everybody to feel there has been some kind of putting things right."

Flexibility is another advantage of restorative justice.

"There are a limited number of sentences the Court can impose.

Restorative justice offers the opportunity to personally front, which is a big thing for a lot of people, and can be a source of huge satisfaction to complainants," says Pene.

"Having sat through four conferences, all of them intensely emotional for both protagonists involved, I know they are not an easy option. It is really quite difficult for people to front up."

Hawkes Bay to Host Conference

Next year's national restorative justice conference is to be held at the Stoney Creek Ranch, Maraekakaho, Hawkes Bay from March 21 to 23.

The ranch is set on 50 acres of farmland, and chaletstyle accommodation will be available for participants.

Programme details and costs are still being arranged, but the organisers of the conference are promising "plenty of opportunities for sharing ideas and learning from each other."

Please send expressions of interest to Kay Whelan at m.k.whelan@xtra.co.nz to assist with planning.

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. Te Ara Whakatika can be viewed online at www.courts.govt.nz/publications/news.html. 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; Hamilton co-ordinator Phone (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.