Restorative Justice
Restorative justice is taking on a new wave of popularity but is not new. Tim has been facilitating restorative justice cases since 1986 and Sharon since 2001.
Restorative justice conferences provide the opportunity for victims of offences to meet with the person who has offended against them and to have the harm and needs that arise from that offending addressed to the extent possible. A conference meeting also gives the offender a chance to address the harmful effects of their actions.
Victims of offences elect to be involved in restorative justice conferences to ask questions and understand what happened, to explain firsthand the effect the offending has had on them, and to seek restitution and address the imbalance that arises when offending occurs.
Offenders are carefully assessed to ensure they are participating for genuine reasons; to attempt to put matters right or, as far as possible, to make up for what they have done.
The type of cases that are currently dealt with by use of restorative justice include criminal offending, disciplinary actions in schools, workplace accidents and occupational health and safety prosecutions, environmental issues and prosecutions, family violence and current and historical sexual assaults and abuse. Restorative justice is most often provided in a post conviction / pre-sentence context but there is a growing utilisation of restorative justice in the post sentence environment as well as an alternative to the court process.
In addition to facilitating restorative justice meetings, Out of Court provides a variety of restorative justice services throughout New Zealand including:
- Organisational development, training, advice and support for establishing restorative justice provider groups.
- Training in restorative justice facilitation
- Assessment and accreditation of restorative justice facilitators
- Training in advanced facilitation skills and restorative justice processes
- Mentoring, governance training and problem solving support for RJ provider groups
