May 24, 2013
More money for mana-creating justice
The new national manager for the restorative justice programme wants to get more Māori involved in the programme.
Mike Hinton is welcoming extra money in the budget to pay for more conferences where offenders sit down with their victims.
He says the current criminal justice system isn't working because it doesn't make the offenders address the harm they do to others.
"It's about mana and it's about restoring mana, not of just the victim – and not of just the offender – but the community that was hurt by that crime or whatever has been affected. Everybody has an opportunity to heal and move forward," Mr Hinton says.
Meanwhile, reform group Rethinking Crime and Punishment has dismissed the view from the Sensible Sentencing Trust that restorative justice is only appropriate for low level offending.
Spokesperson, Kim Workman, says much of the evidence points in the opposite direction, with restorative justice conferencing reducing reoffending by about 20 percent.
He says conferences are more effective for cases of serious crime, particularly violence, than for property theft or minor incidents.
Copyright © 2013, Uma Broadcasting Ltd