Transforming Restorative Justice

From the global pandemic to the Black Lives Matter, the Me Too/Times Up and Indigenous reconciliation and decolonisation movements, the systemic and structural failures of current social institutions around the world have all been brought to our collective consciousness in poignant, painful and urgent ways. The need for fundamental social and systemic transformation is clear. This challenge is central to the work of dealing with the past in countries undergoing transition and in established democracies confronting deep structural inequalities and injustices. Rooted in lessons from the application of restorative justice across these contexts, this article suggests that grounding restorative justice as a relational theory of justice is key to understanding and realising the potential of a restorative approach for transformation. It also explores the implications of this transformative imperative for the growth and development of restorative justice

Doing Justice: New Directions in Restorative Justice”

When I was invited to contribute to the discussion of this year’s theme “Doing Justice: Dispute Resolution in Courts and Beyond” by considering new directions in restorative justice, I began to take stock of where restorative justice has been and where it is going. My thoughts are occupied with the future directions of restorative justice often these days in my capacity as Director of the Nova Scotia Restorative Justice Community University Research Alliance (NSRJ-CURA).1 The NSRJCURA is a five year research initiative that is concerned with issues of theory and practice that emerge as restorative justice moves from its nascent stages toward greater permanency as institutionalized models of justice. The Nova Scotia Restorative Justice Program is a focal point for this research.2 As the most developed and comprehensive restorative justice program in Canada and a world leader, the Nova Scotia Program provides a unique opportunity to explore the new practical and theoretical questions that emerge with the institutionalization of restorative justice. This research will offer visions of, and support for, new directions in restorative justice both at the conceptual and practical levels. There are currently 17 research projects underway within the NSRJ-CURA addressing issues including: the reception and integration of restorative justice within the criminal justice system; equity and diversity issues in restorative justice; the appropriate means and mode of measuring success; the challenge of restorative justice to the compartmentalization of government funding and services; community empowerment/capacity building as a goal of restorative justice; rights protection in restorative justice; and the application of restorative justice to gender-based violence

A Comment on the Complementary Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court: Adding Insult to Injury in Transitional Contexts?

The author examines the principle of complementarity on which the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is based. Unlike its predecessors, the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, the ICC can only take jurisdiction over a case when a state is unwilling or unable to investigate or prosecute. The Court is thus designed to complement the work of national criminal courts. This article assesses whether this admissibility standard will allow the ICC to complement the work of truth commissions like that of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It concludes that the prospect of an ICC poised to assert its jurisdiction in cases where countries have chosen to forego prosecution in favour of a South African-style truth commission could undermine the effectiveness of such commissions. Such a prospect might thus dissuade states from utilizing truth commissions, thereby adding insult to already existing injuries in countries undergoing transition from pasts marred by gross violations of human rights

Restorative Justice: Reflectionson Theory and Practice from within the Nova Scotia Community UniversityResearch Alliance

Dear Readers, This issue of the Dalhousie Law Journal features research from the Nova Scotia Restorative Justice Community University Research Alliance (NSRJ-CURA) a collaborative research alliance involving community, government and university partners. The Schulich School ofLaw at Dalhousie University has been the intellectual home forthe NSRJ-CURA since 2006. The NSRJ-CURA has focused on research related to the conceptualization and institutionalization of a restorative approach to justice. The experience of Nova Scotia\u27s restorative justice program which is among the world leaders in the area has served as a focal point and learning laboratory for this research

The Challenges of Institutionalizing Comprehensive Restorative Justice: Theory and Practice in Nova Scotia

The Nova Scotia Restorative Justice Program ( NSRJ ) is one of the oldest and by all accounts the most comprehensive in Canada. The program centres on youth justice, and operates through referrals by police, prosecutors, judges and correctional officials to community organizations which facilitate restorative conferences and other restoratively oriented processes. More than five years of NSRJ experience with thousands of cases has led to a considerable rethinking of restorative justice theory and practice in relation to governing policies, standards for program implementation and responses to controversial issues. The purpose of this paper is to explore the significance of the Nova Scotia experience to date for sustaining restorative justice beyond the pilot project stage, where a vision of community-based justice is institutionalized with the support of considerable state resources. The first part of the paper explains the genesis, structure, theoretical goals and empirical evaluation of the program to date. The second part examines some of the challenges of institutionalizing comprehensive restorative justice. The paper concludes with general observations about the broader implications for restorative justice theory and practice of the Nova Scotia experience

Deepening the Relational Ecology of Restorative Justice

It is our pleasure to introduce and frame this Special Issue of The International Journal of Restorative Justice. This Special Issue seeks to advance and expand thinking, research and practice of a restorative approach at the level of institutions and social systems, from families to workplaces. The articles and notes from the field included here were developed out of the 2016 International Conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that shared the title and focus of this issue. The conference was held to fulfil a commitment made by the parties involved in a restorative justice process at the Faculty of Dentistry, Dalhousie University, in 2015 (Llewellyn et al, 2015). As Mary McNally\u27s note from the field (this issue) explains, the process was undertaken to deal with harms related to a private Facebook group that contained sexist and other harmful comments from a group of male fourth-year students directed at their female classmates and more generally reflecting unprofessional behaviour.\u27 Many in the university, the professional and the general public assumed that the restorative justice process was focused at the level of the interpersonal relationships and harms involved in the incident. In fact, however, the process revealed and responded to the significant institutional climate and culture issues that were reflected in and structuring the interpersonal relationships involved. It also became clear through the process that examining and shifting interpersonal relationships was the key to bringing the institutional level changes required within the faculty, the university and the profession to address the issues and harms involved and to bring change for the future. This broader focus brought by a restorative approach was surprising to many outside and even some inside the field of restorative justice. It stretched the relational ecology of restorative justice from the use of tools and practices for conflict resolution and discipline to the level of institutions and systems by attending to their relational nature and impact expressed through climate and culture

Restorative Justice: A Conceptual Framework

Restorative justice has become a fashionable term both in Canadian and foreign legal and social policy discourse. Restorative justice is certainly not a new idea. In fact, it is foundational to our very ideas about law and conflict resolution. There is, nevertheless, a lack of clarity about the meaning of this term. Often it is used as a catchall phrase to refer to any practice which does not look like the mainstream practice of the administration of justice, particularly in the area of criminal justice. Little attention has been spent attempting to articulate what distinguishes a practice as restorative. Rather, we have been content simply to identify what restorative justice is not - namely two lawyers, a jury and/or judge in a courtroom

The Challenges of Institutionalizing Comprehensive Restorative Justice: Theory and Practice in Nova Scotia

The Nova Scotia Restorative Justice Program ( NSRJ ) is one of the oldest and by all accounts the most comprehensive in Canada. The program centres on youth justice, and operates through referrals by police, prosecutors, judges and correctional officials to community organizations which facilitate restorative conferences and other restoratively oriented processes. More than five years of NSRJ experience with thousands of cases has led to a considerable rethinking of restorative justice theory andpractice in relation to governing policies, standards for program implementation and responses to controversial issues. The purpose of this paper is to explore the significance of the Nova Scotia experience to date for sustaining restorative justice beyond the pilot project stage, where a vision of community-based justice is institutionalized with the support ofconsiderable state resources. The first part of the paper explains the genesis, structure, theoretical goals and empirical evaluation of the program to date. The second part examines some of the challenges ofinstitutionalizing comprehensive restorative justice. The paper concludes with general observations about the broader implications for restorative justice theory and practice of the Nova Scotia experience