Ministry invites church groups for restorative justice training

The Ministry of Justice has called on members of churches and faith-based organisations across Jamaica to take advantage of the training being offered in restorative justice practices.

Justice Minister Delroy Chuck was speaking in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, where he gave an update on the restorative justice programme.

He said that on September 6, the leaders of 13 umbrella group of churches signed a memorandum of understanding to train church members and leaders in restorative justice practices.

“This group of 13 represents over 3,000 congregations across Jamaica. A point to note is that once these church members and leaders are trained, they will join a total of 2,398 teachers, students and parents who have been recently trained in 81 schools across the island,” Chuck said.

“We plan to train approximately 25 members of every congregation over a two-day period in restorative practices. Training church members from across every nook and cranny of Jamaica is a pre-emptive step in preventing disputes in communities and families from escalating,” he noted.

The church members will be trained in areas such as convening restorative circles, in which persons can address issues causing conflicts and have them resolved.

Chuck noted that the restorative justice programme has been a success, with statistics indicating that for the past four years, more than 7,000 conflicts have been referred for settlement.

Those referred by the courts constitute 78 per cent of cases. Of the approximately 6,000 cases coming from the courts, over 90 per cent were successfully completed.

These, along with referrals from the community and recommendations by the police, bring the overall success rate to approximately 80 per cent.

“So, even where matters are referred outside of the courts, the success rate is over 70 per cent. With such a highly successful mechanism to resolve disputes, I wonder why more matters are not being referred for resolution.

“Accordingly, I urge my colleagues, and the country, to encourage parties involved in disputes and conflicts, or people who know of such parties, to refer them to a restorative justice centre, which would ensure that most of [the matters] are settled,” Chuck said.

The minister noted that by reaching out to the churches, the ministry hopes that more matters of abuse, harm and wrongdoing can be referred to the restorative justice centres, where the parties can get together to find healing and forgiveness.

“By going through the restorative justice process, parties can have their hitherto good relationships restored. Most cases of physical abuse and emotional hurt are between parties well known to each other. Domestic abuses and violence are at epidemic proportion,” he said.

Persons can reach out to the administrators at the 20 restorative justice centres islandwide by calling 888-JUSTICE, or 888-587-8423, to indicate their wish to participate.

JIS