Attorney General Anil Nandlall on Wednesday announced that restorative justice will become a permanent feature of the justice system as part of efforts to implement a more effective and humane approach to addressing crime.
“Restorative justice is here and will become part of our legal systems permanently,” Nandlall said during a training on Wednesday.
The collaborative training event was organised between the High Commission of Canada and the Attorney General’s Chambers.
Restorative justice processes empower victims, offenders, and the community to actively participate in resolving crimes.
He noted that restorative justice provides an avenue for conversations and compensation, sometimes often sufficient to resolve conflicts.
Attorney General Anil Nandlall delivered remarks at the Restorative Justice training (Photo: Mohabir Anil Nandlall/Facebook)
The Attorney General clarified that the restorative justice process only applies to specific categories of offenses and does not include violent crimes, capital offenses, and crimes against children.
“It is intended for you to fan out if you so desire these types of cases to the restorative justice officers, so you can use your valuable judicial time to concentrate on matters that require that type of attention,” Nandlall said.
The Attorney General revealed that majority of the cases before the courts are restorative justice cases and explained that there is a recurrence of the crimes since the system was never designed to the go to the root of the cause.
“What is the underlying cause of this repeated offender coming before you?” Nandlall questioned.
He highlighted that conventional methods of punishment such as the death penalty, hard labour, and solitary confinement have simply not worked.
“Have they resulted in a reduction of our crime statistics? No. In fact our crime statistics will show horrifyingly so, that they are increasing,” Nandlall stated.
Meanwhile, Acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards, highlighted the transformative potential of restorative justice in improving the criminal justice system.
“Restorative justice processes empower victims of crime, the offender and the community alike to play an active part in the criminal justice system in response to the crime,” Justice Cummings-Edwards stated.
Acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards (Photo: Mohabir Anil Nandlall/Facebook)
Justice Cummings-Edwards explained that statistics show that offenders who engage in restorative justice are more likely to reintegrate successfully into society and not re-offend.
“Society is of the view that persons must be charged and locked up, the keys thrown away and they must rot and suffer in prison,” the Acting Chancellor said as she called for a paradigm shift in alternative sentencing.
Meanwhile, plans are underway to establish restorative justice officers across the country. These officers will also be twinned with Probation Officers.
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