Pretoria, 28 October 2002
The Restorative Justice Centre (RJC) is a registered
Non-Profit Organization that is passionate about promoting the concept of
restorative justice and demonstrating its application. Our comments on the Bill have been divided
into two categories dealing with:
1. Restorative Justice principles
The RJC would like to commend the SA Law Commission
for basing the Bill on restorative justice, and for the balanced and realistic
way in which they have sought to give effect to it. We are convinced that the
framework of restorative justice is eminently appropriate for dealing with
young offenders. We have also been extremely encouraged by the range of other
policy initiatives currently underway that draw strongly on restorative
justice. The Probation Services Amendment Bill that was recently passed by
Parliament was apparently the first piece of legislation to mention restorative
justice. We hope that the Child Justice Bill be will be the second.
These principles and some of the procedures and
outcomes are closely linked with restorative justice. The principles of
restorative justice are aimed at achieving the following objectives:
û
Promoting victim’s healing from
effects of the crime
û
Engaging the offender to establish
accountability and responsibility for the consequences of their actions
û
Developing an appreciation of the
impact of the offence on the victim
û
Encouraging and facilitating the
provision of appropriate forms of reparation by offenders to victims and the
community
û
Seeking reconciliation between
victim and offender where possible
û
Strives to integrate the victim and
offender into the community.[1]
Restorative Justice is based on a simple concept that:
û
We are all connected – the basis of
ubuntu
û
Crime is a violation of people and
relationships
û
Violations create obligations
û
The central obligation is to put
right the wrong.[2]
We are of the opinion that the diverse cultures of
South Africa can relate to these principles and that the programmes that are
based on restorative justice will
·
provide practical ways for meeting the needs of communities to be more
directly involved with justice processes in an orderly and structured way
·
provide an avenue for promoting moral regeneration
2. Other
Restorative Justice Programmes
It is of great concern to us that the phrase “other
restorative justice programmes” has been removed from the original version of
the Bill. We see two dangers here: on the one hand, that practices could
develop that are not in line with the above principles of restorative justice,
and on the other, that by being too prescriptive we will exclude local
expressions of the concept.
South Africa is still in its early years of
implementing restorative justice programmes and has thus borrowed from other countries
such as New Zealand, and Australia. There is a great need for South Africans to
develop programmes that are uniquely South African. This will take some time
and advocacy has to happen in communities to promote this. There are different
roles that need to be filled by both the state and communities respectively if
this is to be achieved.
Government has a key role in offering services,
overseeing and safeguarding the process, seeing that the ‘public dimensions ‘
of crime are addressed. This requires a partnership between state and
communities. Community service providers, such as NGO’s need to be given enough
latitude to be able to design and develop programmes that will still fit within
the restorative justice paradigm.
These programmes could be guided by a series of
evaluative questions that address the following:
·
“Does it address harms and causes?
·
Is it victim-oriented?
·
Are offenders encouraged to take responsibility?
·
Are all three stakeholder groups involved?
·
Is there an opportunity for dialogue &
participatory decision-making?
·
Is it respectful to all parties?”[3]
It is therefore recommended that the phrasing of the
Bill not be restricted to Family Group Conferences and Victim Offender
Mediation programmes only. It should include a phrase that is wide enough to
allow other initiatives within the country, particularly rural areas that are
within the restorative paradigm but exclusive enough to eliminate abuse.
I trust that the above-mentioned recommendation will
be considered.
(Ms) Dudu
Setlatjile
Restorative Justice Centre