Introduction Of Restorative Justice In The Superior Courts Essay

Introduction Of Restorative Justice In The Superior Courts - Essay Example The current paradigm of the justice system is under immense pressure to showcase its effectiveness as it has been plagued by dilemmas and controversies that could derail public trust, a critical prerequisite for justice systems. A new philosophy/approach to justice issues is being muted as a solution based on a perspective that views crime as a symptom hence seeks to address the underlying causes in a more participative and inclusive direction in regards to all relevant stakeholders. This philosophy termed restorative Justice (RJ) recognizes that crime is injurious to individuals and communities and seeks to involve these two parties in the repair of this injury. The increasing importance of RJ is the justification for this study to inform the Attorney General on the philosophy and practicability in the judicial system. The concept and processes involved will be discussed, followed by establishing the admissibility of various cases to it and finally the legal basis as to why it shoul d be introduced. The Concept of Restorative Justice Restorative Justice has been described as a concept that offers both a philosophy for conflict resolution and a model for criminal justice and can be termed to be a model for resolution of conflict and repairing of harm. The basic tenets of RJ are based on criminology and victimology wherein respective fashion those responsible for harm are encouraged to acknowledge the impact of their actions and are given an opportunity to make amends for their actions while the victims are given the opportunity to have their harm or loss acknowledged beside amends being made. In essence, RJ has the ultimate goal of restoring the well-being of all the parties involved i.e. the victims, offenders and the community with an aim to reduce the impacts of crime and prevent similar occurrences in future (Strang, 2001). Barton (2003) is of the view that RJ is more of an empowerment model of justice where circumscribed/bounded empowerment is availed throu gh restorative processes that are consistent with shared societal norms and standards and the law itself. For a restorative justice definition to be operational it should consist of three elements. To begin with, crime is a conflict between individuals that result to injuries to the victims, offenders, and the community at large hence it is a primary violation to these parties and only a secondary violation to the state. The second idea that informs criminal justice is that the essential aim of the justice system in any nation should be to repair the damage caused by crime and bring peace to the community through reconciling all parties involved. The previous two elements are philosophical in nature while the third one is based on how RJ should be undertaken. It should involve the participation of the victims, offenders and the community actively and not victimise any individual but to find solutions to the initial conflict that brought the crime.