Community Justice Forum >
Overview
The Community Justice Forum is the primary model of restorative justice endorsed by the RCMP. This model is very similar to Family Group Conferencing, in that it includes the offender, the offender's family and supporters, the victim, and the victim's supporters. The investigating officer is also invited to attend as well as anyone else who has been affected or harmed by the incident.
The Community Justice Forum (CJF) uses a trained facilitator to guide participants through the resolution process. The facilitator follows a script to maintain order, keep the group on task, and ensure that each participant is heard. The participants, not the facilitator, agree on the resolution.
Suitability
The following criteria must be met before the case is deemed suitable for a CJF:
- The victim must be in agreement with the CJF and be willing to actively participate in the CJF by speaking about how the offence affected him/ her, and how the matter can be resolved. The victim is encouraged to be accompanied by supporters.
- The offender must have two support people that are willing to attend the CJF with him/ her.
If either of these criteria are not met, the case may proceed to a Community Accountability Panel for resolution.
Process
The Program Coordinator will assign a facilitator and co-facilitator, and will meet with them to discuss the file.
The facilitator and co-facilitator work together to contact all parties who will be involved in the CJF (offender and supporters, victim and supporters). The facilitator and co-facilitator will arrange meetings with each of the participants and will be the contacts for the CJF.
Interviews are arranged with each participant, so that the procedure can be fully explained to them, and questions answered.
During the pre-meetings with the offender and with the victim, the facilitator will ensure that consent to participate is acquired from both parties.
The offender will sign a Participation Agreement, which outlines that the offender has the option of withdrawing from the procedure at any time, that they may speak to a lawyer, and that they are participating voluntarily.
The location of the CJF should be neutral (not in the home of the offender or victim), should be large enough to seat all participants.
Commencement of the conference will occur after all participants have arrived and have been seated. A script is followed, to guide the participants through the process.>
The script contains key questions that can be asked to help the offender bring out the entire story. Other questions may be asked, as long as they are open and are not leading. It is up to the offender to "paint the picture" of the events that led up to the incident, and how they feel about it now.
Each participant, beginning with the victim, is then given a chance to tell the offender how the incident affected him/ her. After each person has spoken, but before discussion of the Agreement conditions begin, the offender is given a chance to respond to what the others have said.
The participants decide on the resolutions to repair the harm. The facilitator's responsibility is to help the process along by asking appropriate open questions, clarifying points, and ensuring that the outcome is reasonable and satisfactory to all parties.
The Resolution Agreement should not be prepared until all participants have been consulted, and each one is satisfied with the conditions. Consensus of all parties is necessary and the agreement should be restorative, reasonable, and relevant.
Follow-up
The volunteer Mentor assigned to do the follow-up with the young person will act as liaison between the family and organization until the Resolution Agreement is completed. The Mentor should follow up regularly with phone calls and visits with the offender.
The Mentor will arrange for community service hours, with the assistance of the program coordinator. The Mentor will ensure all conditions are met and will assist the offender with the completion of each item specified in the Resolution Agreement.
A Resolution Agreement is a contractual agreement between the Offender (and his guardian if applicable), the victim, his Mentor, RCMP and/ or the Committee. Each party must meet his / her obligations under the Resolution Agreement. It is the Mentor's responsibility to ensure to the best of his / her ability that the Resolution Agreement is completed in full.
Due to unforeseen circumstances (medical emergency, etc.) it may be necessary to consider extension of the timeline or amendments to the Resolution Agreement. In such circumstances the Mentor must contact the coordinator and propose changes to the original Resolution Agreement.
Closure
When a Resolution Agreement has been completed, the offender is given a letter of completion. Finally the offender and guardian(s) are requested to provide comments on the process by completing an evaluation form.