Home About Us Reports Final Report 2003 - Transforming Relationships Through Participatory Justice Preface

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Final Report

Transforming Relationships Through Participatory Justice

Preface

In the last few decades, new ways of resolving conflicts have been developed beside the formal adversarial model that characterizes our courts. At times it is a program of mediation and counselling for families on the verge of separation, at other times it is a judge’s invitation to parties to resolve their cases with the help of a mediator, an Aboriginal sentencing circle, a restorative justice initiative to curb violence in the neighbourhood, or a mediation service for customers and businesses on the Internet. Often these forms of conflict resolution are developed because of perceived deficiencies in the traditional court system, which is seen as too long, too costly, too complex, too punitive, inaccessible or unresponsive to communities’ concerns. These initiatives respond to the weaknesses of the adversarial model used in our tribunals by giving parties and often communities the ability to participate in designing the solution to the conflict. Transforming Relationships Through Participatory Justice is about the promises and the challenges of such participatory justice.

This Report is addressed not only to governments, but also to a broader audience. The Law Commission of Canada hopes that the Report will

• help Canadians learn more about processes of participatory justice;

• enable Canadians to better judge the alternatives that exist within the justice system so that they choose the conflict resolution method that suits them best;

• encourage Canadians to reflect on issues of conflict resolution for our society;

• support Canadians who want to participate in conflict resolution within a judicial system;

• celebrate the many initiatives that have been developed throughout Canada;

• prompt self-reflection among the people who are currently engaged in different participatory justice initiatives in order to strengthen the many good programs that exist throughout Canada; and

• guide governments and civil society in their support, financial and otherwise, of participatory justice programs throughout Canada.

The Commission is happy to have partnered with the National Film Board of Canada in its Citizen Project by making available as part of this report a DVD, Community Mediation: Two Real-Life Experiences. This DVD is intended to educate mediators and the general public about mediation and participatory justice and to encourage reflection about the issues involved.

The way in which citizens resolve their conflicts must reflect their values. This Report articulates some of the values that support the development of participatory justice. It also makes recommendations to the many actors involved in participatory justice: to the people who design participatory justice projects, to the citizens who wish to participate in them and to governments who support such initiatives. How we resolve conflicts defines who we are as a society. It must be part of an ongoing search for harmonious and respectful social relationships founded on principles of justice.

The Law Commission of Canada welcomes your comments and ideas.