Tipperary restorative justice scheme gives a voice to crime victims and hope to offenders

Going to court can be a daunting experience for the victims of crime as much as for offenders. For many victims they feel they have no say in what goes on. They may feel angry that they have passed the person who has perpetrated a crime against them in the street and felt ignored, not knowing what they should do.

However, the community-based Restorative Justice Scheme operating in north Tipperary, Laois and Offaly goes a long way towards both giving victims of crime a voice and finding a basis on which the offender may change their behaviour.

First established on a pilot basis in Court District Court 8, which covers north Tipperary, the scheme grew out of a visit in 1999 by then Judge Michael Reilly and a delegation from the Department of Justice to New Zealand, where the concept was firmly embedded in the justice system.

The scheme got off the ground locally following a subsequent public meeting when a group of core volunteers signed up, many of whom are still involved in the project. 

Back then, the scheme handled about 15 or 16 cases a year, mainly dealing with low level drug or public order offences, explained Emily Sheary who leads the scheme along with a small office-based staff. The target nowadays is 130 cases per year.

Then, about 12 years ago a National Commission of Restorative Justice, chaired by another local judge Mary Martin, decided to look at expanding its remit and the local scheme was tasked with expanding restorative justice in Court District 8, as well as going to Offaly and Laois

“We hope to go further next year,” said Ms Sheary.

 Along with the expansion came a move to target higher end offences where the result of going through reparation may not necessarily lead to a non-conviction but perhaps a suspended sentence or a peace bond.

“There is a misnomer that restorative justice always leads to a non-conviction but that is not always the case,” said Emily. “It is an opportunity to put your best foot forward.”

This expansion of the scheme also led to engagement with the victims of crime, should they so wish, giving the scheme a dual approach.

When you are given the opportunity of going to restorative justice, the volunteer panel first looks at whether the offence affects a person or the community or someone else.

They assess the offender’s suitability and for that “we are looking for you to hold yourself accountable,” said Ms Sheary, “as pleading guilty in court doesn’t always translate to accountability in person.”

She said that people don't always have a real sense of what a court is, what they have accepted, what has gone on.

Emily explained that the community panel is your community coming together with you to look at what happened and to support you in repairing what happened and to say you are a member of this community and we value you.

“It wouldn’t be right if it was just generic and everyone came to Nenagh,” she said, explaining that if you are from Roscrea, then the community panel will be from there, the same with Thurles or Birr or Portlaoise.

Wherever you are you will meet the panel and will talk about what happened, how it affected you and those around you and the steps you can take to put it right and steps you might need to take to support yourself going forward. This might involve outreach support, social support, health support.

Any reparation element where you volunteer to carry out voluntary work will then be in your own community. 

“It is your gesture of making amends and doing something positive in your community,” explained Emily.

In relation to focusing on any victim, the scheme will meet the offender and look at their attitude to what happened and they might end up meeting the person they harmed. Though sometimes this approach works through what Emily called “shuttle mediation”, where the victim speaks to the perpetrator through the volunteers.

“We contact the victim and invite the victim to participate. For some victims they might like to meet the offender and tell them their story, what happened and how it affected them and then others would like us to feed that on to the person who offended them. Sometimes then, the victim feels they are not hearing the right answers and they might then meet,” she said.

Emily pointed out that a sense of justice was very important to people, but that meant different things.

“For some justice is synonymous with punishment, but then you tell them prison may not be in the future, but you do have an opportunity to have a say,” she said. “We prioritise what the victim wants and what the offender can do.”

Ms Sheary estimated that about 30 to 40% of cases involve a victim, and that roughly five percent of victims and offenders meet each other.

“I think we would get more meetings if restorative justice happened a little earlier in the court process. A lot of hurt can be caused before that ever happens,” she said.

Victims often can't understand why a solicitor might tell their client to wait for CCTV or for statements while the victim is thinking you know what you have done. 

“To a victim that feels appalling. A lot of hurt can be caused before it ever comes through to restorative justice,” said Emily. “The victim can feel ignored if they meet the offender on the street, but when you sit down with them, you can ask that question about how you want to be acknowledged. Or if you want the offender to stay away.”

While apologies are very important to offenders, the victim is less interested in apologies and more interested in what are you going to do about it. Are you going to do this again? Have you learned from it?” she said.

“Where it is most effective is where there has been a lot of harm because so much is at stake where someone has been so hurt.,” she said.

For the offender, going through reparation can be transformative.

As an example, Emily pointed out that someone could be taking drugs and drinking and then maybe friends can move on and they are stuck in a rut and drinking or taking tablets every day.

“It can be an opportunity to look at that offer for support. That can be transformative - and then they have a job or a girlfriend and the judge says they are doing great. It can mean a lot to them. If you can support them it can be really positive,” she said.

Emily said that feedback from offenders was that it was fair and they felt listened to, that the scheme was “not to tell you how bold you were”. 

The dynamic between a volunteer and the person can be really powerful because of the human connection, asking them if they are minding themselves. 

“People can often be missing that human connection,” said Emily.

She also recalled another example where a young person was part of a group that caused thousands of damage to property in a small village. His role was relatively minor but the whole incident had been major in the area. The impact of their action was that the area was not safe now for an older population.

“He met representatives from the area and it was very good and powerful. What restorative justice did for him was to give him an opportunity to deal with it and move on. He was working and hoping to take over the business,” she said.

And that success of going through reparation means that the incidences of recidivism is relatively low, with 85% of offenders completing their contract, and 80% never coming before a court again because the accountability and the awareness of what you have done is massive. 

“It can allow you to move on,” she said.

Ms Sheary also believes that reparation is a cheap intervention, and if they can deter someone from continuing with behaviour, then the State is potentially saving up to €80,000. “If we could do it pre-prosecution, what it could save in terms of cost of prosecution, and, for the victim, the emotional investment, would be massive,” she said.

However, they do decline to take on cases as some people feel the scheme is not for them.

“That’s ok too. They may not be in a position to engage and come to a couple of appointments and if you don't have capacity for that, then you don’t,” she said.

The scheme held a National Awareness Week last November, and Emily pointed out that they were always looking for volunteers as the issue arises as to whether or not the current volunteers represent modern Ireland.

“We are recruiting all the time, looking for volunteers from different communities and for newer communities, and those in their 20s,” said Ms Sheary, pointing out that training is provided to volunteers.

It can be harder to hold on to younger volunteers, she admitted, as they tended to do it for a while and then move on, meaning it can be difficult to get a true representation of the community because those people who tend to be able to volunteer tend to be a little older and have a little bit more time. 

“We are 25 years old next year and we are expanding,” she said.

The scheme, which is a registered charity, gets its funding of around €170,000 a year through the Department of Justice and the Probation Services and this covers Tipperary, Laois and Offaly.

Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer can email info@rjc.ie of visit their website www.rjc.ie