Law Times

Law Times • may 1, 2017 Page 11 www.lawtimesnews.com Restorative justice important tool BY MARG. BRUINEMAN For Law Times A gross imbalance in the number of aboriginal people in Ontario jails and recent acknowl- edgment of discrimination and ill treatment have been major driving forces in the use of alter- native solutions to divert people out of the criminal justice sys- tem and work toward tradition- al solutions. But restorative justice, often in the form of a circle, is also a tool that can be used in a variety of ways in the justice context to help aboriginal communities and their members, says Celina Reitberger, executive director of the Nishnawbe-Aski Legal Ser- vices in Thunder Bay. "There has been a lot of appli- cation to many situations," says Reitberger, who describes the restorative justice circle as an indigenous way of dealing with disharmony in the community. "The idea is for the person who has done wrong to hear how his or her action has affected others. And to hopefully offer an apol- ogy but also to come up with a healing plan, a collaborative healing plan that will make sure that this type of behaviour is not repeated." With aboriginal people long overrepresented in the criminal justice system, making up an estimated 10 per cent of adult inmates in Ontario even though they represent a much smaller portion of the population, com- munity-run restorative justice circles are seen as a desirable al- ternative to criminal prosecution for minor offences. Instead of focusing on the rules that are broken, the circle examines the harms resulting from the crime and is meant to empower the victim and respond to their needs. Nishnawbe-Aski Legal Ser- vices employs the community ac- countability conferencing model in 24 First Nations communities in northern Ontario, incorporat- ing the beliefs, values, customs and practices of the community in a non-adversarial process. The circle, a sort of tribunal, includes the perpetrator and any- one affected, family members, counsellors and elders in the community and is facilitated by a restorative justice worker. The process is largely focused on discussion, covering what happened to understand the conf lict and how to deal with it to come up with a resolution and determine how restitution can be made to the victim. The need for alternatives was highlighted by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the judicial inquiry examining the country's notorious residential schools system, which acknowl- edged the need to increase the availability of community-led restorative justice programs. Two years ago, Ontario's at- torney general created the ab- original justice division to work toward addressing those needs. And in November, the province announced that a new elders' council would offer advice to the attorney general to help make the justice system more responsive to the aboriginal population. In an emailed statement, a Ministry of the Attorney General spokesperson said that as part of its commitments in The Journey Together: Ontario's Commit- ment to Reconciliation with In- digenous Peoples, the provincial government is providing fund- ing to enhance restorative justice programming to increase access to pre-charge and post-charge diversion programs and other restorative justice solutions. In Toronto's urban set- ting, Aboriginal Legal Services quickly developed the busiest restorative justice program in the country after it started hear- ing cases in 1992, says Jonathan Rudin, program director. About 150 people go through the pro- gram in a year. "We take aboriginal people out of the criminal justice sys- tem and have them dealt with by members of the aboriginal community," says Rudin. "For many of them, if they were not diverted, they would be getting some custodial time." Its guiding principle is to treat everyone who comes into the program with kindness and respect, which helps to encour- age individuals to open up, says Rudin. That is supported by the members of the council, all ab- original people, who Rudin says often understand what individ- uals have gone through such as alcohol and drug abuse, traumas and abuse among family mem- bers. And it is largely driven by a crew of more than 40 volunteers who meet with clients in com- munity council hearings with the support of staff workers. Consent for the diversion must be obtained from the Crown and can be requested for anyone, but it excludes domestic and sexual assault charges. It con- cludes with a decision tailored to the needs and abilities of the in- dividual, and the charges are ulti- mately stayed or withdrawn. Rudin says the Toronto- based council is unique because it serves an often disconnected urban population and can offer a doorway into a much needed community for them. Some have drifted away or have been adopted and raised in a non-aboriginal home. "Many of the people who come to our program are fairly disconnected from the healthy aboriginal community," he says. "The community council is very much a way of welcoming peo- ple into a community that they want to belong to but they don't really know how to get into it." Rudin says studies have found these diversion programs reduce recidivism "by a very measurable factor" and he attributes their FOCUS Jonathan Rudin says there is some devel- opment in the use of sentencing circles in court processes. See Systemic, page 12 This is more than a phone book. 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