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Restorative Justice Justice that Heals

• RODOLFO D. DIAMANTE

Executive Secretary Catholic Bishops Conference
of the Philippines- Episcopal Commission on
Prison Pastoral Care CBCP-ECPPC Asias
Representative International Commission of
Catholic Prison Pastoral Care (ICCPPC)
International Prison Chaplains Association
(IPCA)
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I. Introductory Remarks CBCP-ECPPC
Thrusts Plights of Offenders and Victims

II. What is Restorative Justice
Comparison of 2 Paradigms Scriptural
Basis III. Restorative Justice Core Values

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• IV. Restorative Justice - Fundamental
• Principles

V. The Way Restorative Justice Works
VI. Working Together for Restorative
Justice
VII. Conclusion
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• CBCP-ECPPC Current Major Thrusts

Promotion and Organization of Restorative
Justice Advocates Advocacy of Enlightened
Legislation Linkages, Networking and
Partnerships Deepening Commitment and
Understanding of Justice That Heals and
Alternatives to Imprisonment

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The Commission in 2000 in celebration
of the Jubilee for Prisoners articulated a new
vision for Prison Ministry -the Restorative
Justice (Justice That Heals)
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Plight of Prisoners
- Subhuman living conditions- congested and
dilapidated jails and prisons, inadequate daily
food allowance, beds, toilets and other sanitary
facilities.

• Human rights violation- Corporal punishment and
  other acts of humiliation .
• Slow judicial process and lopsided administration
  of justice.

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• - Lack of rehabilitation program in penal
  institutions

- Failure to attend to prisoners with special
needs namely the mentally ill, the handicapped,
young, the old and the sick
- Inadequate training of underpaid personnel
- Graft and Corruption

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Plight of Victims

• Have little say and participation
• Needs not attended too
• Denied of power
• Peripheral in the process
• Lack of closure

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Restorative Justice - process whereby those
affected by criminal behavior , victims,
offenders, the families involved or the community
have a part in resolving the issues which flow
from the offending.
What is Restorative Justice
Restorative justice - a philosophy that embraces
a wide range of human emotions - healing,
mediation, compassion, forgiveness, mercy and
reconciliation

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COMPARISON OF 2 PARADIGMS

• RETRIBUTIVE

• RESTORATIVE

A valued-based approach focused on
determining harm resulting from crime what
needs to be done to repair the harm who is
responsible for repairing the harm
An approach focused on determining what law
was broken who broke it How they should be
punished
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STATE AND COMMUNITY

• RETRIBUTIVE

• RESTORATIVE

Crime - act against another person and the
community
Crime - act against the State, a violation of law

Control - lies in the community
Control - lies in the criminal justice system
Community- sideline, represented by the State
Community- facilitator in the restorative process

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OFFENDER AND VICTIM

• RETRIBUTIVE

• RESTORATIVE

Direct involvement by participants
Dependence on proxy professionals
Victims - peripheral to the process
Victims- central to the process
Focus - establish blame, guilt, on past.
Focus- problem solving, obligations, future
Response- focused on offenders past behavior
Response- focused on consequences of offenders
behavior emphasis on the future
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RELATIONSHIP

• RETRIBUTIVE

• RESTORATIVE

Emphasis on dialogue and negotiation
Emphasis on adversarial relationship
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ACCOUNTABILITY

• RETRIBUTIVE

• RESTORATIVE

Crime - both individual and social responsibility

Crime- individual act with individual
responsibility
Accountability - assuming responsibility and
taking action to repair harm
Offender accountability - taking punishment
Punishment - not effective in changing behavior,
disruptive to community harmony and good
relationships
Punishment is effective, deters crime and
changes behavior
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The concept of lex talionis, the law of
proportionality- If property worth 100 gold
coins is stolen, then you cannot claim 200 coins
in return. .

Scriptural Basis

• The emphasis in Scripture was on restitution and
  restoration, not vengeance and punishment.

Justice should be based on principles of
forgiveness and reconciliation
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Jesus specifically rejects 'an eye for an eye' .
'If anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer
him the other one as well

• Jesus called on followers to love their
  neighbors and enemies too.
• Jesus called for unlimited love and said our
  forgiveness should be beyond calculation.

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Core Values

• Retributive justice is focused on the offender.
  Laws and punishment are the core values.

• Restorative Justice is focused on the offender,
  victim, and community. Values are
• offender- apology or shaming and reintegration
• victim- opportunity for forgiveness
• community- relationships.

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Restorative Programs Key Values

• 1. ENCOUNTER Create opportunities for
  victims, offenders and community members who want
  to do so to meet to discuss the crime and its
  aftermath.

2. AMENDS Expect offenders to take steps to
repair the harm they have caused.
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4. INCLUSION Provide opportunities for parties
with a stake in a specific crime to participate
in its resolution.
3. REINTEGRATION Seek to restore victims and
offenders as whole, contributing members of
society.
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Restorative Justice - Fundamental Principles

• Justice requires that we work to restore those
  who have been injured victims, communities and
  offenders.

2. Those most directly involved and affected
by crime should have the opportunity
to participate fully in the response if
they wish.

• The government is responsible for preserving a
  just public order and the community establishes
  peace.

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• Way Restorative Justice Works

• Restorative Justice Conference (RJC), chaired by
  a facilitator, to which victims and offenders and
  appropriate support people are invited
• Offender - acknowledges responsibility for the
  crime committed and express honest regret.

Victim- examines feelings and take full
advantage of any support network that will
facilitate healing.

• Community- creates the conditions for the
  restoration of both offender and victim..

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RESTORATIVE JUSTICE PROGRAMS

• Victim Offender Mediation
• Family or Community Group Conferencing
• Peacekeeping or Sentencing Circles
• Circle of Support

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Working Together for Restorative Justice

• UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Treatment
  of Offenders urged all its member nations to
  increase the use of restorative interventions in
  addressing the problem of criminality.

The CBCP-ECPPC, the Philippine Action for Youth
offenders , the Integrated Correctional
Association of the Philippines and the Coalition
Against Death Penalty are working together to
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disseminate information about restorative justice

develop and promote agreed standards and
principles for evaluating and guiding restorative
justice programs
encourage more research on restorative justice
programs and their effectiveness

• Seek alternatives to imprisonment or
  non-custodial treatment of persons deprived of
  their liberties

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Conclusion

• A system that gives a better deal to victims,
  that promotes
• apology, healing, understanding, accountability,
  personal and
• collective responsibility, forgiveness and even
  reconciliation.
• A system that practice compassion and mercy in
  dealings with
• one another.
• A system that uses imprisonment as a final
  resort.
• Restorative justice provides of these to happen.
  The current criminal justice system does not.

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References

• 1. Consedine, Jim , Restorative Justice A Gospel
  Response to Crime, Pagkalinga-25 Years of Prison
  Pastoral Care,2000
• 2. Cavanagh, Tom, Adopting New Core Values for
  Justice Exploring Restorative Values
  
• 3. Claassen,Ron, Restorative Justice-Fundamental
  Principles,1995
• 4. Van Ness, Daniel and Strong, Karen Heethderks,
  Restoring Justice, 1997
• 5. Zehr, Howard, Changing Lenses, 1990
• 6. Hadley, Michael, The Spiritual Roots of
  Restorative Justice, 2001
• 7. McHugh, Gerald Austin, Christian Faith and
  Criminal Justice, 1978