4 March 1999 Edition
Restoring justice to the community
by Ned Kelly and Peadar Whelan
The community restorative justice (CRJ) schemes being piloted in nationalist areas throughout the Six Counties have their immediate roots in efforts made by republicans to resolve the problems of crime and anti-social behaviour in nationalist districts.
In 1997, the release of a discussion document titled Designing a System of Restorative Community Justice, signalled the intent of republicans in conjunction with statutory agencies and the community to find an alternative to physical punishment of offenders.
The document was completed after exhaustive consultations with republicans AP/RN was told. ``These schemes have the full support of the Republican Movement'', a senior republican told AP/RN, ``They amount to a programme that republicans agree should be in place in our communities to deal with crime and anti-social behaviour by involving the community in finding a solution and getting redress against the perpetrators of crime''.
The republican representative went on to explain that in the past number of years, with the realisation that punishing offenders by beating or shooting them, was only containing the problem of crime in our communities and something different needed to be done.
Coupled to this realisation were moves by the Republican Movement to involve community activists at a ground level, statutory bodies, who also deal with offenders - particularly young offenders - to develop the programme that is now known as the Community Restorative Justice Scheme. Republicans work with all these groups and have their support and commitment for CRJ.
The RUC have never been accepted in nationalist areas and therefore the Republican Movement was compelled to step in and deal with crime in the communities.
Given their counter-insurgency agenda, the RUC are prepared to encourage and tolerate crime as a way of undermining the republican struggle, in other words said therepublican source: ``They are prepared to allow joy-riding and drug-dealing to go on as a way of `poisoning the water that republicans swim in'. It is common practice that joy-riders are no sooner arrested by the RUC than they are let out again to steal more cars. Many of them agree to provide low-level intelligence in return''.
However republicans always believed that crime was a community problem that needed to be resolved by the community itself. Over the years the Movement in general and the IRA in particular have initiated many efforts to move away from punishment as a solution to criminal activity.
``In the early `70s the IRA recommended that `People's Courts' be set up. However the RUC harassed those involved off the streets and the system failed to become established''.
In 1982 in a major article in February and again in an interview in August carried by AP/RN the IRA outlined it's view that alternatives to punishment beatings or knee-cappings was something the IRA wished to see.
In both cases the IRA explained that it was generally responding to community pressure to carry out punishments on criminals and done so, generally as a last resort.
``Through the alternative we are hoping to create a situation were instead of having to physically punish people they would be given an opportunity to stop what they were doing and at the same time they would have to deal with the consequences of their behaviour by facing the community concerned'', stated the IRA in it's 1982 interview.
``Where we are now with the CRJ scheme is that we want to empower communities to deal with the crime and anti-social activity that is undermining the fabric of community life that has made our communities strong and vibrant over the years. We have come through 30 years of war and we can't allow our communities to be destroyed now. We would, therefore urge those who have in the past come to the Republican Movement with their problems to, where a CRJ scheme is in operation, go there with the problem'', concluded our contact.
The aims, objectives and mechanisms of the Upper Springfield Community Restorative Justice (CRJ) scheme have been discussed with local residents at a number of public meetings and information days held throughout West Belfast over the course of February.
At the public meeting in the Whiterock community centre community activist Liam Stone explained that the development of CRJ was based on an informal system of solving local problems that has been in operation for hundreds of years.
Essential to the process is seeking to get all those involved in any problem to meet face to face and allow the reasons why something has become a problem to be openly discussed. The intended outcome is for the target of a crime, the offender and the community to emerge feeling that wrongs have been dealt with, in essence that justice has been restored to the community - an idea that has it's roots in the old Brehon laws of Ireland.
Some of the key points of this CRJ scheme are - To focus on the harms of wrong doing more than the rules that have been broken; show equal concern and commitment to the offended and offender; involving both in the process of justice; empowering victims; supporting offenders to understand and accept their responsibilities; promote dialogue between victims and offenders; and to encourage collaboration and reintegration rather than coercion and isolation.
The mechanics revolve around setting up a central office to act as a point of contact for people experiencing a particular problem. From there victims and offenders will enter into mediation either separately or jointly to try and get at the root causes and hope to explore possible solutions.
Such solutions may include direct compensation or community activity or may be based on negotiating change in behaviour and may also involve outside agencies or looking at what local resources are available to help resolution of problems.
At the lively Whiterock public meeting the range of topics discussed included the realities that many social problem are grounded in the wider issues of unemployment, housing and social exclusion from the state or the community.
A renowned figure in the promotion of restorative justice is to a tend a major conference on the subject in West Belfast this coming Monday March 8.
Harry Mika who has written widely on the subject, including a paper which he presented in Belfast in 1997 to a `Criminal Justice Conference' will speak at the conference in the Whiterock Community Centre along with Jim Auld a major force in promoting the system in the North.
Sinn Fein will also have a speaker at the conference as will the SDLP.
Auld, along with Brian Gormally of NIACRO, Kieran McEvoy from the Institute of Criminology and Mike Ritchie, now with Coiste na nIarchimi, were the authors, in 1997, of a discussion document on restorative justice.
The community restorative justice (CRJ) schemes being piloted in nationalist areas throughout the Six Counties have their immediate roots in efforts made by republicans to resolve the problems of crime and anti-social behaviour in nationalist districts.
In 1997, the release of a discussion document titled Designing a System of Restorative Community Justice, signalled the intent of republicans in conjunction with statutory agencies and the community to find an alternative to physical punishment of offenders.
The document was completed after exhaustive consultations with republicans AP/RN was told. ``These schemes have the full support of the Republican Movement'', a senior republican told AP/RN, ``They amount to a programme that republicans agree should be in place in our communities to deal with crime and anti-social behaviour by involving the community in finding a solution and getting redress against the perpetrators of crime''.
The republican representative went on to explain that in the past number of years, with the realisation that punishing offenders by beating or shooting them, was only containing the problem of crime in our communities and something different needed to be done.
Coupled to this realisation were moves by the Republican Movement to involve community activists at a ground level, statutory bodies, who also deal with offenders - particularly young offenders - to develop the programme that is now known as the Community Restorative Justice Scheme. Republicans work with all these groups and have their support and commitment for CRJ.
The RUC have never been accepted in nationalist areas and therefore the Republican Movement was compelled to step in and deal with crime in the communities.
Given their counter-insurgency agenda, the RUC are prepared to encourage and tolerate crime as a way of undermining the republican struggle, in other words said therepublican source: ``They are prepared to allow joy-riding and drug-dealing to go on as a way of `poisoning the water that republicans swim in'. It is common practice that joy-riders are no sooner arrested by the RUC than they are let out again to steal more cars. Many of them agree to provide low-level intelligence in return''.
However republicans always believed that crime was a community problem that needed to be resolved by the community itself. Over the years the Movement in general and the IRA in particular have initiated many efforts to move away from punishment as a solution to criminal activity.
``In the early `70s the IRA recommended that `People's Courts' be set up. However the RUC harassed those involved off the streets and the system failed to become established''.
In 1982 in a major article in February and again in an interview in August carried by AP/RN the IRA outlined it's view that alternatives to punishment beatings or knee-cappings was something the IRA wished to see.
In both cases the IRA explained that it was generally responding to community pressure to carry out punishments on criminals and done so, generally as a last resort.
``Through the alternative we are hoping to create a situation were instead of having to physically punish people they would be given an opportunity to stop what they were doing and at the same time they would have to deal with the consequences of their behaviour by facing the community concerned'', stated the IRA in it's 1982 interview.
``Where we are now with the CRJ scheme is that we want to empower communities to deal with the crime and anti-social activity that is undermining the fabric of community life that has made our communities strong and vibrant over the years. We have come through 30 years of war and we can't allow our communities to be destroyed now. We would, therefore urge those who have in the past come to the Republican Movement with their problems to, where a CRJ scheme is in operation, go there with the problem'', concluded our contact.
Upper Springfield meetings tell how it's done
The aims, objectives and mechanisms of the Upper Springfield Community Restorative Justice (CRJ) scheme have been discussed with local residents at a number of public meetings and information days held throughout West Belfast over the course of February.
At the public meeting in the Whiterock community centre community activist Liam Stone explained that the development of CRJ was based on an informal system of solving local problems that has been in operation for hundreds of years.
Essential to the process is seeking to get all those involved in any problem to meet face to face and allow the reasons why something has become a problem to be openly discussed. The intended outcome is for the target of a crime, the offender and the community to emerge feeling that wrongs have been dealt with, in essence that justice has been restored to the community - an idea that has it's roots in the old Brehon laws of Ireland.
Some of the key points of this CRJ scheme are - To focus on the harms of wrong doing more than the rules that have been broken; show equal concern and commitment to the offended and offender; involving both in the process of justice; empowering victims; supporting offenders to understand and accept their responsibilities; promote dialogue between victims and offenders; and to encourage collaboration and reintegration rather than coercion and isolation.
The mechanics revolve around setting up a central office to act as a point of contact for people experiencing a particular problem. From there victims and offenders will enter into mediation either separately or jointly to try and get at the root causes and hope to explore possible solutions.
Such solutions may include direct compensation or community activity or may be based on negotiating change in behaviour and may also involve outside agencies or looking at what local resources are available to help resolution of problems.
At the lively Whiterock public meeting the range of topics discussed included the realities that many social problem are grounded in the wider issues of unemployment, housing and social exclusion from the state or the community.
Major conference to hear CRJ expert
A renowned figure in the promotion of restorative justice is to a tend a major conference on the subject in West Belfast this coming Monday March 8.
Harry Mika who has written widely on the subject, including a paper which he presented in Belfast in 1997 to a `Criminal Justice Conference' will speak at the conference in the Whiterock Community Centre along with Jim Auld a major force in promoting the system in the North.
Sinn Fein will also have a speaker at the conference as will the SDLP.
Auld, along with Brian Gormally of NIACRO, Kieran McEvoy from the Institute of Criminology and Mike Ritchie, now with Coiste na nIarchimi, were the authors, in 1997, of a discussion document on restorative justice.