Tiny New Zealand's big role in restorative justice | csmonitor.com

Tiny New Zealand's big role in restorative justice | csmonitor.com: "In a typical FGC, the offender and the victim - and their families - sit with respected community elders in a consultative circle in which the victim can fully express his or her pain and needs for reparation. The group then works to reach agreement on a plan whereby the offender comes to understand the seriousness of the offense and acknowledges this by making some reparation to the victim. This plan is reported to the court system, and all the FGC participants take some responsibility for monitoring follow-through.

In 1993, McElrea started campaigning for the FGC model to be used in adult cases, too. A recent Ministry of Justice evaluation of a one-year pilot project in which 539 adult cases were referred to FGCs found that most victims were very happy with the process. Also, re-offending rates for cases involving more violent crimes and more hardened offenders were noticeably lower in cases referred to FGCs."