What is the best way to deal with law breakers in society?

Historically, when somebody breaks a law, they go before the courts and a punishment, founded on principles of law, is handed down by the Judge or Jury.

An alternative that is being put forward is restorative justice.

According to the Department of Justice Canada, restorative justice puts the emphasis on repairing harm caused by conflict or crime, and it should be collaborative and inclusive.

“It involves participation of victims, offender and community affected by the crime in finding solutions that seek to repair harm or promote harmony,” according to the Department of Justice.

Prior to a restorative justice process, the offender must admit responsibility for their actions, and the victim must agree to be involved in the process.

For Les Dolan, secretary and treasurer of Jasper’s Youth Justice Board, restorative justice is a transformative process that allows victims to participate within the justice system.

“There’s some real potential for healing that wouldn’t probably occur in the regular system,” she said.

“They get a chance to be a heard and to feel understood, and for a victim that can let them move forward a little bit.”

However, she also noted that it’s an individual process.

“I suppose it would all be quite individual,” she said about the healing process for victims.

For University of Alberta Law and Sociology professor George Pavlich, an important part of restorative justice is that victims become a crucial element in the whole process, whereas in previous systems they are “irrelevant to the process.”

While he believes that restorative justice can be an appropriate method, he also questions if it really empowers victims.

“You have to act like a victim to take part in this restorative program,” he said, “by requiring them to act as a victim, are you really empowering them or is it more important to work with a victim to develop out of that victim identity?” he asked.

It’s this involvement, of both offender and victim, that Dolan believes makes restorative justice system meaningful.

Speaking of the Patricia Street vandalism, Dolan thinks restorative justice could be an effective way to deal with the problem.

“I think if those young adults had the opportunity to sit in a circle with people in the community who are directly impacted by their behaviours, how meaningful might that be? If they (offender) actually have to stand up and be accountable by their fellow town members and to apologize and try to make amends,” she said.

An important aspect for Pavlich in determining the success or failure of restorative justice is the context in which the crime occurs.

For example, he said, restorative justice would work well if someone is stealing food in order to feed their family then. However in instances such as the sniper attack in the United States last week, he believes the criminal system works best.

“If someone is hunting a neighbourhood and using sniper fire to arbitrarily murder people, well... you’re better off taking them through the criminal system.”

Using her experience with the Youth Justice Board, Dolan said each case was always assessed on an individual basis and could always be sent back to the criminal justice system if they did not feel it was appropriate to restorative justice.

Sgt. Dave Maludzinski from the Jasper RCMP detachment said he’s seen restorative justice work effectively, both in Jasper and in other communities but also suggested that it needed to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

“We do it all the time,” he said, “if you get a person that smashed a window, they admit to it right away, and they say they want to make restitution, then they won’t see the courts at all.”

He agreed with Dolan that restorative justice could be an effective way to deal with the Patricia Street vandalism, so long as the offenders were from the Jasper community.

“If it’s the young people from Jasper doing the vandalism then I would say yes (it would be appropriate),” he said noting that if the offenders are from the community they would “take more ownership and responsibility of their community and pride.”

In Maludzinski’s experience restorative justice is also more useful system on offenders who are not habitual crime breakers.

“The bottom line is not always to put the bad guys in jail but to get the people who are going to commit crime not to commit crime anymore,” he said adding that first time offenders were often the best candidates for restorative justice.

However, he also noted it also depended on what other crimes they’ve been involved in.

“It all depends on the people involved,” he said, “some work out better than others.”

He said that when offenders, who have admitted they’ve done whatever it is they’re accused of, come up with a punishment is often more than what the victim would have wanted. Restorative Justice Week runs to Nov. 22.