31 May 2004
New guidelines should see (restorative) justice done

Green MP Nandor Tanczos says guidelines launched today by the Government should help make restorative justice work for victims and offenders.

Justice Minister Phil Goff has released Restorative Justice in New Zealand: Best Practice, which sets out the basic standards when the approach is applied in the criminal justice system.

"The Green Party has been supportive of restorative justice since before the 1999 election, so we welcome these best practice guidelines both for their own inherent value and as an another step to making this approach more widely available," said Nandor.

"When applied properly, restorative justice is an incredibly powerful tool that increases victims' satisfaction with outcomes and promotes remorse in, and rehabilitation of, offenders. When applied poorly it can have the exact opposite effect.

"The Corrections, Sentencing and Parole Acts all have provisions for restorative justice, so it is essential we follow up that commitment by ensuring restorative justice is applied successfully," said Nandor.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>