Restoring Justice

The laws are made to govern human's behaviors. If you're taught as a Muslim, you'd learn that no laws are perfect if they are man-made, and only the laws that are formed by God will have their comprehensiveness through places and times. But, the reality of this world is that the majority part of this world is practicing the kind of laws that are subjected to flaws and changes. And if you look closely too, these laws are very much made up on the concept of abstraction and technicality. Too sadly too that while we're obsessed with keeping up with this kind of law, true reparation is very little done in this world.

Luckily, when we're talking about criminal justice, there is a movement that is based on restoration rather than punishment and the need to conform to the technical procedures of laws. Restorative justice is the kind of justice procedure that holds offenders accountable directly to their own victims, which implies on the importance of victims' participation in the process. One way of establishing restorative justice is victim-offender mediation. This program brings offenders and their victims in the same room with a mediator. Both sides will be given their opportunity to express their feelings. The victims will be able to say what they feel throughout the event of crime and the offenders have the chance to explain their positions and apologize. The offenders, too, will be given a chance to 'restore' the victim's condition back to before crime.

Of course both the victims and the offenders must give their consent to want to participate in this program, and those who consented benefit in their own respective ways. Offenders are less likely to experience repeat crimes and victims rate their satisfaction highly on the resolution process. My personal opinion would attribute these benefits back to the communication process. Communication is the one thing that is simple but very much neglected by grudge holders in this world. Conflicts usually persists due to the lack of direct communication between the two parties involved.

Although it's not really about restorative justice, but there is a new show, "Fairly Legal," that talks about how important it is to not be stuck with the technicality of laws and the benefits of mediation in conflict resolution. Try to watch it, and you might have an idea of what victim-offender mediation program is, except this show extends it to conflicts that are not based on criminal conducts.