North Shore Restorative Justice Society

Restorative Justice is a philosophy. Its guiding principles have been articulated most effectively by Howard Zehr and Harry Mika in the following way:

We are working toward restorative justice when we...

1. Focus on the harms of crime rather than the rules that have been broken;
2. Show equal concern and commitment to victims and offenders, involving both in the process of justice;
3. Work toward the restoration of victims, empowering them and responding to their needs as they see them;
4. Support offenders while encouraging them to understand, accept and carry out their obligations;
5. Recognize that while obligations may be difficult for offenders, they should not be intended as pain;
6. Provide opportunities for dialogue, direct or indirect, between victim and offender, as appropriate;
7. Involve and empower the affected community through the justice process, and increase its capacity to recognize and respond to community bases of crime;
8. Encourage collaboration and reintegration, rather than coercion and isolation;
9. Give attention to the unintended consequences of our actions and programs; and
10. Show respect to all parties, including victims, offenders and justice colleagues.

Once you have been referred by the police or another agency, you will be contacted by phone by one of our Facilitators. They will introduce themselves and work with you to find a time that is convenient for you to meet. During this initial meeting, you are encouraged to bring a person or people to support you. Support people can be helpful in making this meeting more comfortable. During this meeting, you will be asked to talk about the incident and answer some questions. Facilitators will also explain our process and answer any questions you have in a caring and respectful way. All information shared in these meetings is completely confidential. The only reason that confidentiality would not be observed is if the Facilitators heard that someone planned to hurt themselves or someone else, or if a child (a person under 18) is being abused physically, emotionally, or sexually.

Questions you might be asked at an initial meeting:

1. What happened?
2. How do you feel about what happened?
3. How were you impacted by what happened?
4. What do you want the other people at the meeting to know about you and how you have been impacted?
5. Who else do you think has been affected by what happened? How do you think they have been affected?
6. What has happened since the incident?
7. What needs to happen for you to be able to begin to move forward from this and have resolution?
8. Do you have any questions for the other people who will be at the meeting?

It is up to the police to decide whether to forward charges to Crown Counsel or to take no further action. If the case is sent to Crown Counsel, they will determine whether or not there is enough evidence and/or if it is in the public interest to lay a charge against the accused. You will be informed by the police what their next step is if the case is sent back because it is not appropriate for Restorative Justice.

Yes. We accept cases where the accused has had previous contact with the criminal justice system. Often a new approach to dealing with conflict can be the turning point for someone where the court system is not providing a deterrent effect.

Yes to both. A restorative approach that holds preparation of participants and safety in the highest regard can be a meaningful and potentially healing experience for those involved in a physical altercation. It is not uncommon in these situations for both parties involved to feel as though they have been victimized. The opportunity to talk about what happened in a safe environment without the threat of violence could minimize the chance of further conflict. Further, a mechanism by which to resolve conflict peacefully can be a powerful experience for those who normally react to conflict with violence.

As with most situations, there are different levels of violence. Often in cases of severe violence, it does not make sense for victims to meet the person by whom they have been victimized for some time, or possibly not ever. For these instances, we would maintain a restorative approach which would not necessarily result in a face-to-face encounter. It is our belief that maintaining a flexible approach based on a holistic process that keeps the victims' needs and concerns paramount can help in the peaceful resolution of conflict.

Our commitment is to provide a safe and supportive process for those who have caused harmed to take responsibility for their actions and attend to obligations that their actions have created. At the same time, this process is voluntary. If the person referred does not wish to complete the process at any stage, we will work with that person in the attempt to address any needs or obstacles that may exist. If, after this effort has been made, the choice of the individual is non-participation, we will refer this matter back to the police or other referral source.

In a Canadian context, diversion is a term that preceded what is now known as Extra-Judicial Measures (EJM) or Alternative Measures (AM). These programs are available to youth and adults at the pre or post-charge level and take a variety of forms including victim-offender reconciliation, paying compensation and community service work. Specific to youth, Extra-Judicial Measures are meant to provide youth with an opportunity to avoid the formal Youth Court process and depend on the young person taking responsibility for what happened. AM programs are generally only available to youth who are “first-time offenders who have committed either a summary conviction offence or a non-violent indictable offence that does not involve a great amount of damage or loss.” In addition, AM programs are backed up by the formal criminal justice system (i.e., Crown counsel). If an accused chooses not to participate or does not carry out the obligations of the program, they are referred back to the criminal justice system.

Comparatively, Restorative Justice is not a program but a philosophy or way of looking at the world. It is important to note the difference between a program based on a Restorative Justice philosophy and a diversionary or alternative measures program. The goals of EJM or AM programs are related to the formal court process and are not meant to operate under a different paradigm or way of thinking about crime and conflict. The main goals of EJM or AM programs are lowering the amount of cases coming before the courts, decreasing costs, changing the attitudes of offenders, increasing victim/community satisfaction and lowering the youth crime rate and recidivism (Griffiths & Verdun-Jones, 1994: 615). While these goals are not entirely inconsistent with the goals of a restorative justice program, the scope of restorative justice is much broader. Within the restorative justice paradigm, limits are not placed on the types of offences, accused or victims that can benefit from this approach. Although EJM or AM programs can potentially operate from a restorative approach, many continue to exclude victims and communities in the justice process.

Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act enacted on April 1, 2003, police officers and Crown Counsel have the opportunity to use Extra Judicial Measures to deal with youth without using the formal youth justice court system. Before laying a charge or referring the matter to extra-judicial sanctions, a police officer SHALL consider whether it would be sufficient to

• Take no further action
• Warn the young person
• Refer the youth to a program or agency in the community that may provide assistance. This option requires that the young person consent to the referral.

To be referred to the program, the person who caused harm must:

1. Take responsibility for the harm caused – harm could be physical, emotional, financial
2. Be willing to meet with our Facilitators to discuss the incident
3. Provide contact information to the referring agency to be sent to Restorative Justice

To be referred to the program, the person harmed must:

1. Be willing to meet with our Facilitators to discuss the incident
2. Provide contact information to the referring agency to be sent to Restorative Justice

For a Restorative Justice process to be most meaningful, the following criteria are considered important:

1. There are not significant differences in the facts of what happened according to the parties
2. The parties feel safe and supported throughout the process
3. The parties are open to exploring a community-based approach to resolving the crime or conflict

Restorative Justice is a way of responding to crime that attempts to heal what has been broken and restore relationships. When an officer uses his/her discretion to informally caution a person, it likely means that this case would not be one where evidence would be gathered and an information laid to Crown. Police perform an important peacekeeping function in communities where informal cautioning can be very effective. Coming to the attention of the police can often be enough to deter citizens from committing further criminal acts (e.g., shoplifting, speeding, etc.). While Restorative Justice seeks to respond to the needs of the community, programs like ours do not seek to “widen the net” and process more people through a system than would be processed through the formal criminal justice system.

In short, for many incidents informal cautioning is effective and a more involved or time-consuming process is likely unnecessary and undesirable in these cases.

There are many reasons why an officer may wish to refer a case to a Restorative Justice program. Some of the benefits for the overall justice system include:

• Meets the needs of crime victims and increases their sense of justice and satisfaction with the criminal justice system
• Increases the public’s experience of justice and increases public satisfaction with the criminal justice system
• Can decrease the time generally required to process offences in the traditional adversarial manner
• Greatly decreases the expense of processing offences in the traditional manner by leveraging services from trained volunteers
• Reduces incarceration costs by substituting creative alternatives for people who are not dangerous and can usefully contribute to the community and the victim
• Reduces court dockets, caseloads, Crown counsel, defense counsel, correctional officers, and reduces the volume of police calls, making these resources more available for the cases that most need them
• Increases the community’s understanding and ownership of the criminal justice process, as a result of victim and volunteer involvement

Although many believe that a restorative approach is a “soft” response to crime that is easily manipulated or taken advantage of by offenders, we have found the opposite to be true.

People who cause harm that participate in a restorative process, often for the first time, see the impact their behaviour has caused on other people. Utilizing a restorative approach, those who have caused harm are expected to take responsibility and speak about their behaviour, answer questions from the community, and participate in making things right. As the two, highly trained Facilitators will be engaging in a series of meeting to prepare all participants for the face-to-face encounter, it will usually become apparent that the accused is attempting to “scam” the process.

If Facilitators get the sense that the accused will further victimize the victim in any way, the face-to-face meeting would likely not move forward. The values of trust and honesty are part of a restorative paradigm and when compromised, could indicate that people are not ready or voluntarily engaging in the process.

As many police officers and justice professionals have noted, victims of crime are not central within the formal criminal justice system - therefore, their needs are often placed second to those who cause harm. A restorative approach holds the needs of victims central in the response to crime.

The fact that victims can be involved in the justice process along with the support of Facilitators, family and friends can be very empowering for those harmed by crime. They benefit by being able to confront the offender with the real human impact of the offense and have questions answered. They are provided with an opportunity to ask for/be offered an apology as well as have input into how the restitution and restoration can occur in a way that is personal and meaningful. In addition, they can avoid the need to appear in court and have the matter resolved in a more timely way. Victims can be supported to make the decisions that make sense for them and assisted in finding closure which brings peace of mind.

Other benefits of a restorative approach for victims are:

• Have the offender right the wrong, in whatever way is possible and valuable to the victim
• Opportunity to confront the offender with the real human impact of the offense, express thoughts and feeling directly to the offender
• Find out what the offender is like
• Get answers to questions that only the offender can answer (Why did you do this to me? How did you get into my house? Were you watching me? Is there anything that I did to cause this? Is there anything I could have done to prevent this?)
• Allay fears about the offender (Will s/he come back? What kind of person would do this? Am I in danger?)
• Opportunity to ask for/receive an apology
• Opportunity to be seen as a person, instead of an object or target
• Become empowered as a primary and valued participant in the resolution of the offence
• Help determine what restitution or other restoration the offender will provide and obtain it in a form that is personal and meaningful to the victim
• Opportunity to have a personal impact on the crime problem by decreasing the likelihood that this offender will re-offend
• Opportunity to feel that justice has been done
• Obtain the closure that brings peace of mind

No. The goal of our program is to help people to help themselves. We encourage empowerment and reaching out. While we are not qualified to counsel participants, we will work with people to tap into support people in their life and other agencies in the community. We work hard to stay current, knowledgeable and connected with community resources on the North Shore including specialized services for youth, mental health and substance misuse services.