NEW ZEALAND CONFERENCE

Restorative justice plan brings no reoffending cut

A ground-breaking scheme to bring criminals face to face with their victims has failed to reduce reoffending rates among burglars and fraudsters and seen only a slight overall dip in other crimes.

Yesterday, an Australian criminology conference was told that a New Zealand restorative justice programme was valued by victims and offenders who had taken part but had largely failed to prevent reoffending.

Victoria University researcher Venezia Kingi said her one-year evaluation of the programme, piloted in the Dunedin, Auckland, Waitakere and Hamilton District Courts, had shown a "small but significant" reduction in reoffending rates.

Nearly one in three offenders (32 per cent) reoffended within a year of their restorative justice conference, lower than the 36 per cent in matched comparison groups. This was achieved with fewer offenders being jailed – 13.7 per cent compared with 19 per cent for offenders treated solely through the courts.

Kingi said New Zealand led the world in restorative justice and this pilot scheme was "a good process".

"But we do need to remember that restorative justice conferences are just one event in the lives of some youth who have highly complex needs. To see it as a silver bullet is highly naive," she said.

Such conferences should not be a substitute for good victim-support services, she said.

A longer evaluation study, looking at reoffending over two years, was due to be released by the Justice Ministry today.

Kingi's evaluation considered nearly 200 conferences in the year to February 2003 in which moderately serious offenders met their victims after a referral from the court. Two-thirds of referrals did not result in a conference because either the victim or offender refused to take part.

Where meetings occurred, victims were able to explain the impact of the offence on their lives while offenders were given a chance to apologise. Reparation, financial or otherwise, was usually discussed.

Kingi said the conferences increased victims' satisfaction with the criminal justice system and saw a slight fall in overall reoffending rates. Violent offenders and those whose driving had caused death or injury were significantly less likely to reoffend, but fraudsters and burglars were more likely to offend.

Her evaluation found three-quarters of victims "felt better" after taking part in the conference, and half felt it had helped them put the offence behind them. Some victims remained unhappy at the level of reparation or in the resultant court sentence.

Kingi said it was "a matter for some concern" that fewer victims were positive about the conferences than offenders and the proportion of victims giving positive ratings declined over time.

Several offenders quoted in her report said the conferences made them more aware of the impact of their crime. "After hearing his side of things, I felt bad, real bad," said one. "I reckon the conference helped me wake up," said another.

The average cost per restorative justice conference was $2500. This was balanced against the savings made by jailing fewer offenders.

National law and order spokesman Simon Power said the two goals of any justice programme must be reducing reoffending rates and aiding the healing process for victims.

Kamala Hayman
10 February 2006

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