Since the end of apartheid, escalating crime in South Africa has prompted renewed interest in criminal justice. Could a restorative justice approach be integrated into the current retributive justice system? This collection of papers, compiled by the Institute for Security Studies and Restorative Justice Centre, looks at the concept of restorative justice and consider its relevance to the South African context. Pilot projects have demonstrated the applicability of the approach and that the policy environment is favourable for the development of restorative options.
Overall, the South African government’s response to rising crime has emphasised more arrests and prosecutions on the one hand and applying harsher sentences to convicted criminals on the other. The state preoccupation with punishment has led to massive overcrowding in prisons and fails to address the needs of those affected by crime. It is hoped that the shortcomings of the current system might be confronted by a restorative justice approach.
Where crimes are committed under the retributive justice system, states assume responsibility for criminal justice and the actual victims are displaced from any meaningful role in the justice process. Restorative justice offers a practical way for victims and offenders to get involved in responding to crime and healing its effects. A range of positive aspects have been highlighted from initiatives to date:
- Diversion away from formal court proceedings to other appropriate processes is preferable when dealing with children as it encourages the child to accept responsibility for the wrongdoing without the stigma of a criminal record.
- Research demonstrates that the first priority for victims is normalising their lives as opposed to seeing their perpetrators punished. Surveys among magistrates and prosecutors reflect an encouraging level of support for the restorative justice approach.
- The victim-offender conferencing (VOC) project allowed victims, offenders, their families and the community to deal with crime in close cooperation with the police and justice sectors.
- Allowing victims to express their pain and offenders to understand the consequences of their actions is a vital part of the mediation involved in restorative justice.
- As a non-custodial sentencing method, restorative justice may reduce prison overcrowding.
Given the drastic change that occurred in South Africa in 1994, a radical transformation of the justice system was required. The framework of restorative justice seems set to move from marginal concept to being actively incorporated into the criminal justice system. However, the development of future policy and practice requires further attention in a number of areas:
- Restorative justice continues to be viewed by some as a ‘soft’ option and is overwhelmingly not deemed suitable for dealing with more serious crimes.
- Policy makers and practitioners must market the concept to the public and ensure that magistrates and prosecutors are trained about the principles, objectives and applications of restorative justice.
- South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission overlooked the need to link reparation to the process.
- In order to implement an effective restorative justice process, community infrastructure must be strengthened and partnerships between formal and informal justice systems must be established.
- Creativity and flexibility are required as a ‘one size fits all’ approach to restorative justice is unlikely to succeed.
- Ongoing evaluation of programmes and agreements is required to determine overall success rates.
