Tuesday, August 07, 2007 Oledan: Restorative justice By Radzini Oledan Slice of Life
RESTORATIVE justice is a process where all the parties (or sides) with a stake in a particular conflict or offense come together to resolve collectively how to deal with the aftermath of the conflict or offense and its implications for the future.
It is also a way where offenders have the opportunity to acknowledge the impact of what they have done and to make reparations and victims have the opportunity to have their harm or loss acknowledged and amends made.
Restorative justice takes place in a criminal justice system, and helps communities to deal with conflict in schools, workplace, and the community. It is a relatively new idea here in the Philippines which has long used the punitive approach in dealing with conflict, even in the treatment of its children.
The retributive approach blinds itself to the fact that the real injustice of an offence is the loss and harm suffered by the victims.
With this approach, the offenders' suffering or loss constitutes the payback, but to society – instead of to the victim(s). What results is that the victim's loss is not restored, their suffering is not compensated and broken relationships with victims and society are not mended. The amount of harm in fact increased, and injustice remains.
In contrast, restorative justice holds that offenders’ 'right the wrongs' to victims by taking responsibility for the actual, material harm done to them. There is no need for choosing either both mercy and forgiveness or justice. All of these elements are inherent when restorative justice is applied.
These basic differences in approach necessitate the confluence of the community to work on the potential to make the current law on RA 9344 work for, instead of against the children.
The maintenance of a moral society that encourages people to obey the law and deter them from breaking the law is a sound endeavor that will ensure the protection of innocent law-abiding citizens.
Offenders should receive their just desserts. Punishment should fit the crime and be neither more nor less than the offenders deserve.
It should redress the injustice done by the criminal. The wrongdoer should right the wrongs.
Punishment should not make the offender a worse person – rather a better one.
The Juvenile Justice Law begins by laying down the basic principles in the administration of juvenile justice.
Every child in conflict with the law, RA 9344 says, shall have the following rights, among others:
The right not to be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;
The right not to be imposed a sentence of capital punishment or life imprisonment, without the possibility of release;
The right not to be deprived, unlawfully or arbitrarily, of his/her liberty; detention or imprisonment being a disposition of last resort, and which shall be for the shortest appropriate period of time;
The right to be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the person, and in a manner which takes into account the needs of a person of his/her age;
The right to prompt access to legal and other appropriate assistance;
The right to bail and recognizance, in appropriate cases;
The right to have his/her privacy respected fully at all stages of the proceedings.
These are the basic difference in previous handling of child offenders.
Under the supervision of local social welfare officers, children in conflict with the law (CICL) will undergo a program for diversion which could include the following: written or oral apology; reparation of damage caused; counseling for the child and his/her family; anger-management trainings and community service.
