Page 1 of 12 Page 1 of 12 Message by Senator the Honourable Mark Golding Minister of Justice National Restorative Justice Church Service February 9, 2014 Emmanuel Apostolic Church 12 Slipe Road, Kingston 5 9:30 a.m.
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Page 1 of 12
Message by
Senator the Honourable Mark
Golding Minister of Justice
National Restorative Justice Church Service
February 9, 2014
Emmanuel Apostolic Church
12 Slipe Road, Kingston 5
9:30 a.m.
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Page 2 of 12
Salutations
The Bishop C. Everton Thomas
The Honourable Mrs. Chief Justice Zaila McCalla, CD, OJ,
represented by the Hon. Justice David Batts of the Supreme
Court
The Hon. Julian Robinson, MP, Minister of State in the Ministry of
Science, Technology, Energy & Mining
Honourable Ministers as well as Members of Parliament,
Mrs. Carol Palmer, JP, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of
Justice,
Major General Stewart Saunders (Ret’d), CD, JP, MSC, psc,
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security
Ms. Paula Llewellyn, CD, QC, Director of Public Prosecutions
Distinguished guests, Members of the Restorative Justice Team,
Other members of staff of the Ministry of Justice,
Congregants,
Good morning.
I wish to express my gratitude to Bishop Thomas and the members of
the Emmanuel Apostolic Church for this opportunity to worship with
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you as we mark the commencement of National Restorative Justice
Week 2014, and thank everyone who has joined in celebrating
Restorative Justice Week 2014.
Concepts of Restorative Justice (RJ) are deeply embedded in the
Christian faith. Indeed the Bible is replete with passages reflecting
notions akin to those from which Restorative Justice are drawn.
For example, Galations 6:1 says: “Brothers and sisters, if someone is
caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person
gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted”, and
Corinthians 2:11 reads: “Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for
full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in
peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.”
The theme for this year’s RJ Week is “Restorative Justice as a catalyst
for unity, healing and transformation.” This theme emerged in light of
the Ministry of National Security’s holistic thrust in the Unite for
Change Campaign, which recognizes and calls upon the help and
support of a number of agencies to effect change in our society,
specifically as it relates to the rule of law.
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One of the most influential and authoritative agent for change is the
Church, which occupies a place of moral influence in our society.
We ask that the Church to partner with us as we seek to heal our
communities and, ultimately, our country from the terrible affliction of
violent crime.
Restorative justice is a philosophical framework for approaching the
phenomena of crime and conflict, rather than being a distinct
model or system of law. It is profound, influencing how we think
about ourselves collectively as a society, how we respond to crime
and how we restore balance in relationships and communities after
a crime has been committed.
Restorative justice is not a single system, and components that may
exist in one community may not be applied in others. However, there
are broad parameters or principles within which restorative justice
initiatives generally fit. Restorative models embrace a different way
of thinking about crime and our response to crime. Restorative
justice:
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Focuses on the harm caused by crime, repairing the harm
done to victims, and reducing future harm by reducing the risk
of spin-off crimes based on revenge and reprisals;
It requires offenders to take responsibility for their actions and
for the harm they have caused;
It seeks redress for victims, recompense by offenders and
reintegration of both within the community;
It achieves these goals through a co-operative effort,
supported by communities and, indeed, by the government.
The process of restorative justice seeks to answer the following
questions:
1. Why did the person responsible, or the offender, commit the
crime?
2. How has the incident affected the person responsible?
3. What remorse has been expressed, if any?
4. What impact has the incident had on the victim and the
community?
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By allowing such answers to be heard, the process allows all the
parties with a stake in a particular offense to come together and
collectively resolve how to deal with the aftermath of the offense,
and thereby move on with their lives by restoring balance and
harmony out of discord.
This kind of dialogue takes into account the feelings of individuals
who have been hurt by crime and who are angry. In this way
restorative justice can forestall retaliatory spirals of violence, where
crimes of anger are often really crimes of hurt. By focusing on the
hurt caused, the aim is to quell the anger.
The essence of restorative justice lies in the face-to-face meeting
between the victim, offender and members of the community.
During the course of that meeting each party is given an opportunity
to tell the story of the crime from their own perspective, and talk
about their concerns and feelings. The meeting helps the parties to
develop an understanding of the crime, of the other parties, and of
the steps needed to make amends. The meeting concludes with an
agreement outlining how the offender will make reparation.
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Reparation can include monetary payment, service to the victim,
community service or any other measure agreed upon by the
parties.
This is quite different from the adversarial approach which underlies
the formal justice court system administered by the courts, which
places the offender and the accompanying punishment of the guilty
at the heart of the process, while the victim and the community are
mere subsidiary participants offering evidence to establish guilt or
innocence.
Another difference is that the formal justice system is controlled and
operated by the state and professionals, who are usually remote
from the situation and location of the incident. Restorative justice,
on the other hand, though it may be supported by the state, is
driven by communities.
In their 2007 review of the literature on the topic, Sherman and
Strang concluded that in most cases (especially with more serious
offenses and with adult offenders) restorative justice is significantly
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more effective than the traditional justice system at lowering
recidivism rates. These authors conclusions found that RJ:
1) Substantially reduced repeat offending for some offenders.
2) Doubled (or more) the offenders brought to justice.
3) Reduced crime victims' post-traumatic stress symptoms and
related costs.
4) Provided both victims and offenders with more satisfaction with
justice than traditional justice.
5) Reduced crime victims' desire for violent revenge against their
offenders.
6) Reduced the costs of criminal justice, when used as diversion
from traditional justice.
7) Reduced recidivism among adults more than prison, and as well
as prison in the case of youths.
The end-game of an effective system for administering Restorative
justice is a win-win for all participants: the victims, the community
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and the offender. It also benefits the state, by avoiding the use of
scarce resources in the formal justice system to handle cases that
can be more effectively addressed outside that system.
In Jamaica, the Ministry of Justice through its Restorative Justice Unit
has since the beginning of 2012 implemented the RJ Programme
across ten (10) communities. These are:
Tower Hill and August Town in St. Andrew,
Trench Town in Kingston
Granville in St. James,
Effortsville and Canaan Heights in May Pen,
Homestead, March Pen and Ellerslie Pen in Spanish Town
The goals of the progamme are to:
Increase public confidence in the justice system as a whole;
Build social cohesion through fostering healthy relationships
among Jamaicans;
Empower individuals and communities to prevent and
respond to crime;
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Enable community members to have greater and more
meaningful access to justice;
Support a culture of peace in communities through effective
restorative justice practices;
Develop community and individual capacity to deal with
conflicts peacefully;
Reduce recidivism; and
Eliminate the reprisal culture by enabling dispute resolution in
the early stages of conflict.
Restorative justice processes are already helping individuals within
the pilot communities to get to know each other and understand
each other better. This ability to see things from each other’s
perspective strengthens bonds and relationships between individuals
within the restorative process. By strengthening the bonds and
relationships that connect individuals, the communities as a whole
are thereby strengthened.
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Before I close, I would like to briefly mention some of the activities we
will be embarking on going forward.
Starting yesterday, we have asked our pastors and ministers
across our pilot communities to incorporate the message of
Restorative Justice in their sermons. This will allow for a wide
cross section of Jamaicans to hear the message of Restorative
Justice on the same day.
On Friday February 14, I intend to make a statement on
Restorative Justice in the Senate
On Wednesday February 19, there will be a Reception for our
Restorative Justice Facilitators, to acknowledge the
contribution of Facilitators and award those who have
successfully completed the Training Course
On Friday February 21, there will be an International Restorative
Justice Conference to examine the use of Restorative Justice in
Jamaica as a vehicle for bringing people together for healing
and transformation.
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Brothers and sisters, Jamaica is a nation of great contradictions,
operating with extremes of good and bad. Our nation must find
ways to continuously draw our people together in sustained unity, as
happens on occasions when we celebrate sporting excellence by
our athletes or international success in talent competitions. It is our
hope that Restorative Justice will play its part on our national journey
to a more forgiving, caring Jamaica, by helping to reduce our
unacceptable levels of crime and violence.
I once again refer to the biblical principles with which restorative
justice shares: Matthew 18:15-16 says “If your brother or sister sins, go
and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to
you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or
two others along, so that every matter may be established by the
testimony of two or three witnesses.”
Let us be the catalyst for unity, healing and transformation in our
beloved country.
Thank you.
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