Research - Courts

In a recent South Australian District Court 'Causing Death by Dangerous Driving' case District Court Judge Gordon Barrett has stated "The Court may not be able to offer much solace, however I know the office of restorative justice can, over a longer term, offer more solace than the court can"

 

What drives victims of crime to sometimes 'soften' their attitude towards offender? - An article from the Advertiser 14th May 2011- When victims forgive the unforgiveable | Adelaide Now

Does Circle Sentencing Reduce Aboriginal Offending - Jacqueline Fitzgerald (2008) Circle sentencing is an alternative method of sentencing Aboriginal offenders which involves the offender’s community in the sentencing process. This bulletin considers whether people who participate in circle sentencing (1) show a reduction in the frequency of their offending, (2) take longer to reoffend and/or (3) reduce the seriousness of their offending. The results suggest that
circle sentencing has no effect on any of these outcomes. Circle sentencing participants offended less in the 15 months following their circle. However, the same was also true of Aboriginal people sentenced in a traditional court setting (the control group). After a range of offender and offence characteristics were controlled for, we found no difference between the circle sentencing group and the control group in time to reoffend. Finally, there was no difference between the circle sentencing group and the control group in the percentage of offenders whose next offence was less serious than the reference group