Three Elements Of Restorative Justice

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1. Introduction Punishment for acts that is regarded as crimes, have existed long before the first codification laws. It is as a tool used to pre-empt and prevent any future or further criminal conduct in society. What is seen as appropriate punishment has changed over the millennia, from punishments like crucifixion and stoning to today’s methods of restorative justice. To determine whether or not a law or legal policy is supported, the application of it by the judiciary, the writings of academics and the general reaction of people in the non-legal community must be closely examined. These three elements that provides support to laws and legal policies will answer the research question of this paper. 1.1. Research question Is restorative…show more content…
Aim of the research The aim of this research article is to determine the support of the judiciary, academics and community through the following means; firstly, to briefly determine what is punishment and what its purpose and what are the punishment theories. Secondly this paper will determine the origin and the ideals of restorative justice. Lastly this paper will determine if and how type of support is shown by Legislation and academic writings and community reactions. 2. Punishment 2.1. What is punishment? Punishment according to a South African Computer Journal by Jamil Mujuzi, is the deliberate imposition of pain and deprivation by the state. The state implements the deprivation of rights such as the right to freedom of movement, privacy and dignity. 2.2. What is the purpose of punishment? The purpose of punishment is to act as retribution, as a preventative measure, as a deterrence for the individual or society and reformation. The different aims or purposes of punishment leads to what is commonly known as the punishment…show more content…
Another example of legislation that supports restorative justice is the Child Justice Act which establishes in section 73 that a child brought before the court will be given a restorative justice sentence and it further stipulates the strict measures in place to assure that the child complies and what would happen if they do not comply. The main reference of support of restorative justice will definitely be Promotion Of Equality And Prevention Of Unfair Discrimination which states in sec 4(guiding principles) that in any punishment in cases that falls under this act must be met with a combination of restorative justice principles and some type of deterrence. All these examples of legislation shows that there is indeed support for restorative justice in our current

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