Restorative Justice

1468 Words3 Pages

1 Introduction
There is an ever increasing trend of crime in our society. The troubling issue is that such an increase is also seen in violent crimes; between 2012 and 2013 alone there has been a 4.2% increase in murder cases. There are many contributing factors to these statistics, one of them being the effectives South Africa’s judicial system. A punishment system which deters people from becoming first time offenders, as well as prevents existing offenders from re-offending will play a crucial role in stabilizing the level of crime in South Africa. This essay will consider whether restorative justice is an effective process and hence whether it is gaining support in the South African legal system.

2 Defining restorative justice
As a point of departure one needs to first understand what restorative justice is, which according to Burchell is defined as:
“Restorative justice involves essentially a non-punitive resolution of disputes arising from the infliction of harm, through a process involving the victim, the offender and members of the community.”

Although restorative justice considers both the absolute and relative theories of punishment it, is a form of punishment under the field of criminal law that differs from any other punishment form.

3 How does restorative justice differ from other criminal proceedings?
The restorative justice process in most instances involves a meeting between the accused, the offender and any others affected by the crime. In this meeting those affected will explain to the accused how they have been affected. Constructive conversation takes place and in most cases the accused is expected to apologise to those affected by the crime.
The idea of an apology raises an important dissimilarity betwee...

... middle of paper ...

...ct imprisonment, we will not be able to solve the problem of overcrowding in our prisons.”
The state of South African prisons raises a further concern that those imprisoned return to society as hardened criminals who pose more of a serious threat to society than prior to their imprisonment.
The review of the decision in the Shilubane case resulted in a reduction of the sentence to a R500 fine, or 6 months imprisonment, which was suspended for three years.
6 Conclusion
It would be very difficult to quantify the results that have come about from restorative justice process because it is fairly unfamiliar in the South African legal system. However upon the study of existing legislation and case law, as done in the discussion above, it can be seen that based on its core values, which are less punitive in nature, restorative justice is gaining support in South Africa.

Open Document