Victim Offender Mediation Essay

Abstract

Victim-Offender Mediation offers the victim and the offender an opportunity to resolve their dispute with the aid of an impartial third party. Parties in Victim-Offender Mediation are not restricted to the formal legal requirements of criminal jurisprudence, but rely on dialogue to arrive at an appropriate remedy which may fall outside the formal Criminal Justice System. The parties are thus given the opportunity to agree on an appropriate remedy to the damage caused. Formal Victim-Offender Mediation in Ghana is still in its formative stages, where some juvenile offences are brought before a Child Panel for a mediated settlement. This paper evaluates Victim-Offender Mediation as a tool of Restorative Justice and explores how it could

Restorative Justice according to him seeks to reintegrate the offender by acknowledging the shame of wrongdoing, but then offering ways to expiate the shame. He believes that the shaming is the key to controlling the occurrence of all types of crime. He distinguishes two types of shame, namely: (i) stigmatizing shame, which disintegrates the moral bonds between the offender and the community, and (ii) Reintegrative shame which on the other hand strengthens the moral bonds between the offender and the community. He states that the former increases crime but the latter decreases

It thus presents a very distinctive process that addresses the “informational and emotional needs” of the victim which is necessary for their healing.

Victim- Offender mediation may be used as part of the judicial process or as an alternative to the traditional criminal justice processes. It can take various forms and outlines, depending on the structure of the criminal justice system, the stage at which it is introduced and its relationship with the traditional justice system. It can be ‘independent’, ‘relatively independent’ and ‘dependent’ on the criminal justice