Restorative Justice programme in line with scriptures – Chuck
Tamoy Ashman / Our Today
Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck said that the government’s Restorative Justice (RJ) programme is in line with the scriptures and teachings of the Bible, because it preaches a message of forgiveness.
Chuck was speaking during a church service yesterday (April 2) at the Braeton New Testament church of God where he stated that the ministry is pursuing several activities that are “consistent with the preaching of the Lord”.
“What is happening congregation is that Jamaica has been overwhelmed with conflicts, people who disagree, don’t know how to resolve disputes and disagreements with one and other. And naturally, if they really think of the teaches of the Bible they would acknowledge that much of what the Ministry of Justice is doing is consistent with the holy scriptures,” said the minister.
Restorative justice is defined as a process whereby all the parties with a stake in a particular offence come together to resolve how to deal with the aftermath of the offence. The process uses a method of forgiveness in restoring peace and de-escalating conflicts.
Chuck noted that there is an epidemic of domestic abuse, gangs and interpersonal violence in Jamaica, and the government believes that once they have all the necessary stakeholders doing their part to promote restorative justice, Jamaica will become peaceful.
“Restorative justice reflect the teachings of the New Testaments. It means that the RJ facilitator encourages the wrongdoer to accept responsibility for the wrong that he or she has caused. It’s not easy because in Jamaica, when people do wrong they always say its’ not their fault is somebody else fault.
“They never accept responsibility for what they do, especially when it is wrong. And what RJ is about is to persuade, encourage the wrongdoer to accept responsibility. And once the wrongdoer can accept responsibility, then the RJ facilitator try to convince the victim… to forgive, which as you know is a fundamental law of Jesus Christ,” he explained.
Chuck then encourage members of the congregation to not only promote restorative justice but to visit the centres islandwide to resolve conflicts. There are 20 restorative justice centres across the island and all churches, schools and communities are urged to use the services.
– Send feedback to [email protected]
Comments