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Whatever other description there may be for restorative justice, at its heart it is a movement of hope and non-violence. It contains the possibility of offering people traumatised by crime or caught up in offending, a positive hope filled and respectful way forward.

The media and the community consistently rage against the violence so prevalent in our society. In as much as restorative justice helps people take responsibility for their actions, initiates a healing process and offers a way forward, it undermines the very core of that violence by providing a non-violent respectful way of procuring justice.

It should be welcomed as a genuine breakthrough in the resolution of conflict and in the creation of justice. It is justice that matters, justice that everyone wants. Restorative processes will deliver better justice.

In as much as it works towards the restoration of dignity of those affected, it is an essential part of the modern peace movement. Creating international peace built on justice among nations is a priority for all people of good will. But building domestic peace has not had the same high profile. Yet it is of equal importance. Many would argue that without one you cannot have the other. Conflict resolution at a domestic level surely is the proper platform from which to build peace internationally.

As the theologian Walter Wink points out, the myth of redemptive violence has been the choice of every major social grouping of the 20^th century, be it socialist, Marxist, capitalist, communist, whatever. This concept enshrines the belief that violence saves, that war brings peace, that might makes right. Nations have made redemptive violence the acceptable way of resolving injustice. Internationally, if nations have had a grievance it has been resolved either by the threat or use of violence. Most of the destruction, mayhem and death was justified as being right and just. Only violence would correct (redeem) the injustice.

The results of this redemptive violence have been horrendous. We have just emerged from the most bloodthirsty century in history, with hundreds of millions of innocent people killed in its name.

We have applied the same philosophy and approach to domestic conflict, especially crime. Beat them and beat them hard, has been the catch cry down through the ages. Lock ‘em up (an act of violence) and throw away the key. Let’s hope that this violence will somehow redeem the situation and produce justice. It rarely if ever does. And so more and more prisons have been built and, while flogging and execution have been reduced or abandoned, the culture of state violence has remained.

Such an approach is testimony to our inability to find creative non-violent solutions. We act less than humanly when we continue to resort at first instance to violent solutions to society’s problems. Yet we do it all the time. Both war and prisons are violent institutions. Rightly do we condemn aggression internationally and on the domestic front. But then we respond with more violence. The major question is: are we mature enough as human beings to find sustainable non-violent processes to better deal with these important issues?

Restorative justice is a movement of non-violence. It provides a mature human response to complex situations of conflict and crime. It does not necessarily provide a solution to either. But it is a process that respects those involved and enhances the families and communities to which they belong. It recognises that violence is unacceptable and provides a non-violent but challenging and positive way of proceeding.

Restorative justice appeals to the better side of human nature and not the destructive, vengeful dark side. It is a movement of hope.

The government is showing imagination and courage in promoting some pilot restorative justice processes. It is vital the best people get to run these pilots. But this is not just another government project. These pilots are breaking new ground and are up against huge vested interests. There is a lot of power within and money to be made from maintaining the old failed system.

The success of the pilots is dependent on community ownership and acceptance and a passion for better forms of justice. Without these three things, they will not succeed. Simply seeing the pilots as another programme run from Wellington will never be enough. Passion is the X-factor, the essential ingredient that makes the difference. Without passion, social change quickly runs out of steam. Passion is the dimension which recognises the spiritual dimension to social change. Changing peoples’ hearts and minds is a spiritual matter, a matter of the soul. No amount of bureaucratic organising can produce this dimension. Name any movement that genuinely changed the face of society, and you find an abiding passion for justice driving it. The abolition of apartheid and the death penalty in this country, the development of a nuclear free New Zealand and a desire to redress Maori land grievances did not happen because of a few people calling for change from the safety of academia or government departments. They happened because people in the community with vision dreamed of a better way forward and committed themselves to it, regardless of the time, cost or energy involved. They succeeded because they educated the community and forced the vested interests to shift their focus.

What is now required is a genuine working and respectful partnership between the Government, the Department of Courts and the community. Such a partnership involves mutual trust and recognition of the gifts that differing parties bring to the process. The move forwards cannot be left in the hands of one sector only. Each has something important to offer.

The Government must bring political will to bear and provide leadership. These pilots are government policy. The Department of Courts can bring infrastructure and planning skills to the project, co-ordinating resources, encouraging participation, and funding the salaries, research, education and reviews required. But it is in the community that restorative justice will succeed or fail. Around the country, it is here not Wellington that the passion to do things better is found. It is people from the community who, when trained, will make the best facilitators and provide the best resource networks. It is they who will bring the soul to the process and nourish it. Only they can supply the X-factor. Only the community can create the structures and conditions where hearts and minds are changed and better justice produced. At the end of the day, that is what restorative justice is about.

We have created one small branch of the restorative justice tree. It is as yet a seedling. For the sake of our nation and future generations, we need to nurture it, encourage it and make it grow through genuine partnership.

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