Submission to the lord mayor's commission on crime and policing:

Introduction:

Anti-social behaviour and criminal activity are a real and persistent problem in our community. Although sections of the media sensationalise and exaggerate the levels of crime the fact is that many in our community do live in constant fear because of criminal activity. Anti social behaviour and petty crime have the effect of lowering the quality of life for everyone. The roots of crime are tightly intermeshed with poverty and youth alienation. We make no apology for asserting that you cannot fully defeat crime without a radical transformation of society. At the same time we acknowledge the need for innovative and practical steps to be taken to reduce the level of crime in our community.

It is not our intention to submit a detailed policy statement on crime and policing. We offer the suggestion that as an immediate short term measure the Community Restorative Justice concept could bring about the lowering of crime support the victims of crime and rehabilitate offenders into society. We propose that a pilot Community Restorative Justice project for young offenders should be initiated in the Finglas area.

Currently our law is based on a retributive justice system, which sees crime as a violation of the State, defined by lawbreaking and the establishment of guilt. It determines blame and administers punishment in a contest between the offender and the state. It is a system in which the victim has no meaningful role. In contrast, the Community Restorative Justice approach seeks to redefine crime, interpreting it not so much as breaking the law, or offending against the state, but as an injury or wrongdoing to another person. The offender and victim are encouraged to be directly involved in airing the issues surrounding the conflict through dialogue and negotiation, in the presence of their family’s and support structures. Those involved in the conflict are empowered to become central to its resolution.

Different jurisdictions throughout the world, including New Zealand, Australia and certain cities in the United States, have introduced various forms of restorative justice programmes. With many successful programmes already in existence we believe that it is time to implement a pilot Community Restorative Justice project in Finglas to put victims first and divert youngsters from crime. Though such a pilot scheme would have to be tailored to meet the particular needs of our community, the New Zealand model of restorative justice, Family Group Conferences, seems to offer an appropriate model. This model has been fully integrated into the justice system in New Zealand after being originally piloted in urban Maori communities, which experienced high levels of social deprivation, which generated severe problems with youth crime.

It should be apparent to the different agencies administering justice in Ireland, as it has become elsewhere, that the institutionalisation of large numbers of children and young people is damaging to them and ineffective in preventing delinquency. Thus any new approach should emphasis the need to keep children and young people with their families and their communities. It is equally obvious that the current system of justice is completely inadequate from the perspective of victims. Even where offenders are convicted, victims often feel completely alienated from the process. In most cases the offender fails to understand or acknowledge the harm and suffering they have caused. The system simply has no mechanism for generating such an understanding or for encouraging the offender to carry out some form of restitution.

The New Zealand Model: Family Group Conference:

At a general level the Family Group Conference model of Community Restorative Justice as operated in New Zealand is based on the following principles:

> Victim involvement, mediation, reparation and reconciliation - The involvement of victims in restorative justice processes ensure better provision for their needs through the opportunity to obtain reparation. Mediation also allows for victims' involvement in outcomes and the opportunity for reconciliation. The potential benefit of mediation for offenders is that it enables them to understand the consequences of their offence and to express remorse.

> Justice - This includes accountability for offences, equality, and proportionality of punishment and an emphasis on due process. A key feature of the model is that time frames should be realistic so that young offenders can associate the punishment with the offence, repay their debt quickly and then proceed with their lives, putting the past behind them.

> Diversion and destigmatisation - Related to the notion of a "justice" model is an emphasis avoiding processes that label and stigmatise, and avoiding the use of institutions unless they are required for public protection.

> Enhancing well-being and strengthening families - The system recognises the importance of providing support for young people and their families. The expectation is that this will decrease the chances of re-offending and provide a system, which is consistent with the best interests of the child or youth.

> Family participation and consensus decision-making - This approach emphasises that families and young people should participate in all parts of the decision-making process and be party to outcomes agreed to by all who are involved, including the young person, the family, the police and the victim. A sense of empowerment and control through participation is widely acknowledged by psychologists as being essential for the recovery of victims.

The operation of a Family Group Conference:

The family group conference (FGC) deals with all those young offenders whose offences are considered by the police to be too serious or persistent to be dealt with by warnings and informal police sanctions (such as apologies). There are two routes to an FGC, either by a "direct referral" to a Youth Justice Coordinator (YJC) or, when there has been an arrest and charges have been laid, by referral from the Youth Court. In all these cases, the FGC makes recommendations on the outcome. When a case comes through the Youth Court originally, the recommendations of the FGC go to the Youth Court for approval before implementation. Cases may also be decided by the Youth Court if the FGC recommends it or if there is no agreement.

The FGC is a meeting at a time and place chosen by the family and attended by the young offender and their family, the victim and their family, the police, the youth advocate (young person's lawyer), where one has been appointed and any other people whom the families may wish to have present. It is arranged by the YJC who acts as facilitator and mediator between family and the police, although the YJC can invite others to act as facilitator. Usually, after the introductions and greetings, the police describe the offence and the young person admits or denies involvement. If there is no denial, the conference proceeds with the victim describing the impact of the offence on him or her. Views are then shared about how matters could be set to rights. The family deliberates privately, after which the meeting reconvenes with the professionals and the victim to see if all are agreed on the recommendations and plans advanced by the family.

The FGC is both the central forum for decisions and plays a principal role in achieving the goals of the system:

> Justice - The main method of achieving accountability in the system is through an FGC, which, if it agrees, has the power to decide or, in court cases, recommend to the court on appropriate penalties. The new Youth Court's role is limited except when there is a lack of agreement at the FGC or when the charges are denied or in the most serious cases. When cases go directly to an FGC without first being referred by the court, the FGC provides a method of hastening the usually slow court process.

> Diversion - In the system there is increased use of police "diversion" through warnings and the use of informal sanctions. But the FGC is itself a new method of diversion, which is available for the persistent offender and for those who commit the more serious offences.

> Victim involvement - The practice should involve the victims, the offender and the families of the victim and the offender, firstly, in acknowledging guilt and expressing remorse and, secondly, in finding ways to restore the social balance so that the victim could be compensated by the group and the offender could be reintegrated into the group. An increasing attention to victims should lead to victim involvement becoming an integral part of the new system for dealing with young offenders. Under the FGC model unlike other jurisdictions, the involvement of victims has not been limited to merely minor offences and first offenders. All offences committed by juveniles, excepting only murder and manslaughter, now have an FGC, which the victim is entitled to attend, and which occurs before the court proceeds to deal with the case.

> Enhancing well being and strengthening families - The FGC is also the forum in which the needs of young people and families can be discussed and where plans can be developed which will provide access to funds for services and programs which are intended to achieve these goals.

> Family participation and consensus decision-making - are provided for through the FGC, which is intended to provide a forum, which is sufficiently informal and relaxed to give real meaning to the participation of families and young people. The use of a Youth Justice Coordinator who is effectively a mediator between the family and young offender on the one hand and the police, the victim and their family on the other, is intended to enable consensus to be reached.

Conclusion:

The Irish Socialist Network does not claim that the introduction of a similar model on a pilot basis would eliminate crime in Finglas overnight. However all evidence points to a reduction of crime when Community Restorative Justice schemes are integrated into the criminal justice system. We offer this as a practical scheme of crime reduction, which could be implemented in a relatively short period of time. In tandem with a major programme of development of youth facilities, the equitable use of Garda resources and democratic community control of policing this proposal could play a part in bringing about a lasting end to the suffering caused by criminal activity to so many people in our community.