2006 in Review
Justice work is growing throughout Prison Fellowship. National ministries are responding to need for change and government call for input on justice issues. For some, this means starting or expanding programmes such as Communities of Restoration (APAC) or Sycamore Tree Project®. For others, this means developing their own programmes to meet the needs of victims and offenders. The following tables show the growing involvement of national ministries seek to apply Biblical principles of justice and righteousness in their system.
National Ministry Justice Activities in 2006
- PF Australia: Creating a transitional mentoring programme (NSW); Held a public meeting to raise awareness about restorative justice (NT)
- PF Bahamas: Halfway house
- PF Belize: Public meeting to raise awareness about restorative justice
- PF Bolivia: Received official recognition for the conciliation centre in Oruro
- PF Botswana: Participated in a government restorative justice conference
- PF Colombia: Participated in peace process meetings between the government and guerillas; Participated as instructor in a RJ training for police officers; Continued to operate STP in prisons and the community
- PF CNMI (Saipan): Public meeting to raise awareness about restorative justice
- PF Costa Rica: Co-sponsored a national conference on restorative justice
- PF DRC: Operating a judicial committee and aftercare programmes
- PF El Salvador: Conducted a workshop on the Sycamore Tree Project at a victimology forum
- PF Ethiopia: Training workshops for justice officials; Developing RJ legislation; Launched two human rights handbooks for law enforcement.
- PF Fiji: Participating in a government pilot project introducing community service
- PF Liberia: Part of a Case Flow Committee to review cases of unsentenced prisoners; Submitted a proposal for including the prison community in the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
- PF Malawi: Halfway house
- PF New Zealand: Participated in government study tour on European prison practices; Held a major nationwide conference entitled “Beyond Retribution”; Advocated for victims’ rights with a government committee; Began a nationwide strategy to assist in changing attitudes to crime and offending called “Rethinking crime and punishment”
- PF PNG: Conducted a restorative justice workshop for Church groups.
- PF Poland: Co-hosted Juvenile Justice Conference
- PF Portugal: National Volunteer conference focused on restorative justice
- PF Sierra Leone: Pilot project on restorative justice
- PF Singapore: Hosted a public lecture on restorative justice; Sponsored training lectures on restorative justice to Singapore Prison Service
- PF South Africa: Promoted restorative justice through Week of Prayer activities
- PF Swaziland: Provided leadership for the National Working Group on Restorative Justice; Hosted a seminar on alternatives to incarceration; Victim Offender Reconciliation Teams
- PF Zambia: Creating a mediation centre
Sycamore Tree Project®
During 2006, the following national ministries were running or had run the programme at least once:
- PF Australia (Western Australia)
- PF Cayman Islands
- PF Colombia
- PF Costa Rica
- PF England and Wales
- PF Hong Kong
- PF Hungary
- PF Korea
- PF New Zealand
- PF Netherlands
- PF Northern Ireland
- PF Palau
- PF Philippines
- PF Rwanda
- PF Scotland
- PF South Africa
- PF USA
National Ministries working toward implementation:
- PF Argentina
- PF Australia (Queensland and New South Wales)
- PF Belize
- PF Canada
- PF El Salvador
- PF Guam
- PF Malawi
- PF Panama
- PF Papua New Guinea
- PF Singapore
- PF Swaziland
- PF Trinidad and Tobago
Communities of Restoration (APAC)
During 2006, Communities of Restoration programmes were running in:
- PF Argentina
- PF Australia
- PF Bolivia
- PF Brasil
- PF Bulgaria
- PF Chile
- PF Costa Rica
- PF Ecuador
- PF England and Wales
- PF Germany
- PF Latvia
- PF New Zealand
- PF Singapore
- PF USA
National ministries working toward implementation include:
- PF Canada
- PF Mexico
- PF Norway
- PF Scotland
CENTRE ACTIVITES
Onsite Assistance to National Ministries
Dan Van Ness
- PF Costa Rica: Plenary presentations on restorative justice and UN Handbook on Restorative Justice at national conference
- PF New Zealand: Plenary presentation on developments in restorative justice at “Beyond Retribution” conference; presented seminar at Justice Department; Conducted national radio interview
- PF Singapore: Conducted public lecture on restorative justice; presented two training lectures for Singapore Prison Service; met with judges from the Community Court
- PF Belize: Consulted with Kolbe Foundation and national ministry on PFI’s assistance to prison reform effort.
- PF Brazil: visited various APACs in Minas Gerais
- PF Canada: Presentation on Communities of Restoration to government officials
- PF Zambia: Hosted PF Zambia representatives designing victim offender mediator training
Graeme Taylor
- PF Philippines: STP training
- PF Singapore: STP training
- PF Belize: STP training
Gerardo Barreto
- PF England and Wales: Study visit on COR
- PF Australia: Study visit on COR
- PF New Zealand: Study visit on COR
- PF USA: Study visit on COR on COR
Lynette Parker
- PF Latin America Caucus: restorative justice training
- PF Zambia: Hosted PF Zambia representatives designing victim offender mediator training
Long Distance Assistance to National Ministries
- PF Australia: (WA) Research on the impact of housing provision on the recidivism of released prisoners; (Victoria) Post-release programme models; STP assistance
- PF Belize: Review new prison rules related to parole
- PF Bermuda: Global incarceration rates and information on recidivism
- PF Bolivia: Materials for training prison guards and administrators; Procedures for enforcing mediation agreements
- PF Cambodia: Information on RJ programmes
- PF Canada: Assistance in developing a COR programme proposal; Participated in a conference call on the design of a new women’s facility; STP assistance
- PF CNMI: Guidelines for hosting a restorative justice seminar
- PF Colombia: Facilitated the visit of a Canadian mediation expert to consult on RJ programmes
- PF Costa Rica: Examples of Alternative to incarceration programmes; Coordinated a visit by Valdeci Ferreira to conduct COR training
- PF Ecuador: Bibliography on prison privatization
- PF Estonia: Reading list on restorative justice
- PF Ethiopia: Comments on suggested amendments to the criminal procedure code
- PF Guyana: Best practices in juvenile justice; Guidelines on organizing seminars on restorative justice
- PF Hungary: STP assistance
- PF India: Commented on a justice training module
- PF Liberia: Assisted in developing a proposal on incorporating the prison community in to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
- PF Malaysia: Information on groups working for religious freedom
- PF Mauritius: Prepared briefing document on the use of amnesties to relieve prison crowding
- PF Netherlands: Restorative justice information for a media interview
- PF Palau: STP assistance
- PF New Zealand: Information on the effectiveness of in-prison restorative justice programmes
- PF Philippines: STP assistance
- PF Singapore: Introductory information on restorative justice and victim support
- PF Swaziland: Information on the use of restorative justice around the world; information on Communities of Restoration programmes
- PF Trinidad and Tobago: Information on restorative justice and organizational change
- PF Uganda: Information on running restorative justice programmes
- PF USA: assisted in preparation of victim impact letter in sentencing of former employee
- PF Zambia: Information for government officials on restorative justice, the Sycamore Tree Project®, and Communities of Restoration.
Books, Papers and Articles
Dan Van Ness
- Restoring Justice: An Introduction to Restorative Justice, Third Edition. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson Publishing Co. (written with Karen Strong)
- Handbook of Restorative Justice. Cullompton, Devon: Willan Publishing. (edited with Gerry Johnstone)
- Chapter on Restorative Justice in Prison, in Handbook of Restorative Justice.
- Plenary presentation at “Next Step: Developing Restorative Communities” Conference, Bethlehem, PA 19-20 October
Lynette
- Presentation on using the Restorative Justice Online website at the “Next Step: Developing Restorative Communities” Conference .Bethlehem, PA, 18-20 October.
- Presentations on the Sycamore Tree Project® and restorative dialogue at th II Congreso Mundial De Mediación y VI Congreso Nacional. Una via hacia la cultura de la paz. 6-11 November. Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, México.
UN Activities
- Lynette participated in three meetings of the UN Alliance of NGO son Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.
- Dan participated in two expert meetings: one to review and modify draft UN Handbook on Restorative Justice and another to review and modify proposed UN Toolkits
Centre Websites
- 12 editions of the Justice Network Newsletter
- 11 editions of the Sycamore Tree Network
- 3 editions of the Communities of Restoration
- Monthly updates to the home page of www.pficjr.org
Restorative Justice Online
- 12 editions
- 619 abstracts added to the database
- Approximately One million visitors during 2006
Print Publications
- Developed brochures on managing overcrowded prisons and prisoner reentry to be distributed in 2007
- Created a brochure on Communities of Restoration to be distributed in 2007
- Created a step-by-step guide on organizing seminars for justice reform
2005 in Review
2004 in Review
2003 in Review