Former Commissioner of Police Seelall Persaud will be heading the new Restorative Justice Centre which will be working with perpetrators and victims of soft crimes with the aim resolving interpersonal conflicts.
The launch of the Restorative Justice Centre comes on the heels of the Guyana Government passing the relevant legislation last year for its introduction.
Over the past two years, the Ministry of Legal Affairs has been working with other stakeholders to train various community leaders on restorative justice practices.
At the launch on Wednesday, Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall pointed out that tradition methods of justice, punitive and retributive, have failed to tackle the level crimes that are infesting societies. Hence, the need for a new approach through the rehabilitative component.
“[Restorative Justice] by law, shall only apply to non-violent and minor offences – offences that carry a term of imprisonment of three years and below… It brings the victim and the perpetrator together and it tries to repair that relationship, and it is a consensual mechanism. Once human relations, strained, can be repaired then that goes a far way in ensuring cordial relations.”
“So, this brings together the victim and the perpetrator, and allows for apologies to take place; allows compensation to be paid, and allows other forms of amends consensually worked out between the perpetrator and the victim through a facilitator [from the Restorative Justice Centre],” he posited.
According to Nandlall, this approach depends largely on societal participation.
Consequently, the Ministry of Legal Affairs, over the past two years, has been working with other stakeholders to train various community leaders across the country on restorative justice practices. These include teachers, religious leaders and community leaders such as toshaos.
Nandlall added Restorative Justice also goes beyond interpersonal relationships and focuses on a preventative approach as well. The aim is to reduce the prison population by targeting recidivism.
“It seeks to examine the underlying factors that resulted in the violent criminal or delinquent conduct and it seeks to address that underlying problem… Restorative Justice allows us to go into homes and toxic environments, and identify the source of the toxicity and root it out once and for all,” the Minister stated.
Meanwhile, Persaud will be rolling out the pilot project on the East Coast of Demerara before the national launch.
Persaud expressed his optimism that this initiative will have a transformative impact in tackling crimes within communities across Guyana.
“These engagements will allow for the spread of compassion and love. Spreading compassion and love is the essence of being human hence my optimism [for the success of the restorative justice programme],” he stated.
