Objectives and Values
Objectives of RJA (summary):
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To promote the interests & practice of restorative justice
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To promote & encourage proper conduct and accountability among its members and practitioners
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To preserve and maintain the values and practice of restorative justice
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To promote the opportunity for the acquisition of knowledge and skills
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To represent its membership in the development of policy & law
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To promote communication and liaison between restorative justice organisations, Government, justice stakeholders and individuals in NZ.
RJA’s core values of restorative justice:
Participation: including victims, offenders and their communities of interest as the principal speakers and decision makers in restorative justice processes.
Respect: treating all participants with respect, regardless of who they are.
Honesty: speaking openly and honestly about what happened and the consequences.
Humility: accepting the common fallibility and vulnerability of all human beings.
Interconnectedness: society sharing with individuals the responsibility for wrongdoing, restoration and reintegration.
Accountability: wrongdoers accepting responsibility for what they did and the consequences.
Empowerment: giving victims an active role in determining their needs and how these can be met; giving offenders the opportunity to accept responsibility and to do what they can to repair the harm and make personal change.
Hope: nurturing hope for the healing of victims, change for offenders and, ultimately, a more civil society.
