Restorative justice is effective, not 'soft on crime', say advocates

Every year, the third week of November is marked as Restorative Justice Week by the B.C. Ministry of Justice.

Catherine Bargen, a restorative justice coordinator with the ministry, said the idea of the week is for people to learn more about restorative justice, which she said has "many misconceptions."

"It's thought to let someone off the hook, or that it's something that is soft on crime," she told B.C. Almanac host Gloria Macarenko.

Rather than having a victim and offender going through the court and prison systems, restorative justice brings together those involved in the crime — the offender, victim and others in the community.

"Restorative justice is a philosophy that actually aims to hold people meaningfully accountable in the aftermath of a harm that has been committed, and ensure that restitution and reparation is made in a meaningful way," said Bargen.

"It's a victim-focused process, so that victim's needs are met as well, in a way that often cannot be met through the court system."

A 'powerful' experience

Alex Zuur, program manager of the North Shore Restorative Justice Society, runs programs with the West Vancouver Police Department and the North Vancouver RCMP.

She said the process starts with separate meetings with the offender, victim and other parties involved, and that leads to a face-to-face meeting, giving the victim an opportunity to have their questions answered directly by the offender.

"It puts a person to the crime and it gives a context to something that otherwise for a victim can be quite an isolating experience.

"They never have a chance to ask some of those questions [and] that can be often ongoing and more traumatizing than the event itself."

Zuur said her organization accepts a "huge" range of referrals, including crimes of arson, theft, assault and property damage, but said they also take non-criminal referrals from community members.

She said the process doesn't work in all situations, and the offender must be willing to accept responsibility for their actions for the process to go forward.

Zuur doesn't believe it is an easy way out for offenders.

"When people are having to sit across the room and look someone in the eye and give them a verbal apology for what they've done, that is — from my experience of witnessing it first hand — often a much, much more powerful experience and can actually often be quite difficult for some people to say those words of apology."

To hear the full interview listen to the audio labelled: Restorative justice week in B.C.