November 14, 2022
Remorse key to restorative justice
The new restorative justice facilitator for Auckland’s Manukau Urban Māori Authority, says its still one of the best ways for allowing both victims and perpetrators to move on with their lives.
Restorative justice has been practiced in Aotearoa since 1989 – with stats consistently showing better outcomes for all parties involved – than traditional court justice processes.
Terry Davis, of Ngati Manu and Ngati Hine, has a background in family harm resolution – and says restorative justice is still very effective, as long as the perpetrator is genuinely remorseful.
“I think that remorse thing is something that you can’t fake. It’s something about the energy that you give off to people in the room, and a couple of times some of our perpetrators have slipped through our fingers, and have ended up in front of victims – and the victim can tell,” he says.
Mr Davis says restorative justice seems to be particularly effective for the Māori and Pasifika communities – which have restorative justice practices embedded in their culture.