Justice Process Research Articles

The Concept of Restorative Justice in the Criminal Legal System: A Breakthrough in Legal Benefits

Historically, alternative efforts to resolve criminal cases have existed since the Dutch colonial era, even before Indonesia's independence. Currently, there are several forms of resolving criminal cases outside of court in force, namely diversion (transferring the resolution of children's cases from the criminal justice process to a process outside criminal justice in accordance with the Juvenile Criminal Justice System Law), Afkoop (as regulated in Article 82 of the Criminal Code), and Seponeren (dismissal of cases in the public interest by the Attorney General). The aim of this research is to analyze the concept of restorative justice in the criminal law system as a breakthrough in legal benefits. Approach The research method that can be used in this research is the empirical juridical approach. This approach combines a normative juridical approach with an empirical approach. Based on the analysis carried out, restorative justice can be applied in cases that cause financial loss or minor crimes. The principle of restorative justice in resolving criminal cases in Indonesia does not only depend on formal and material criminal law provisions but is also based on a broader concept of punishment. The model for implementing restorative justice in Indonesian criminal procedural law can be found through a criminal resolution mechanism that follows a legitimate legal problem resolution approach, which is reflected in the reform of the criminal justice system in Indonesia, which is based on an evaluation of the criminal justice system.

The Ten-Year Revolution

Abstract This article reviews the evolution of the role of civil society documentation efforts in international justice proceedings since 2013 circa. It is written from my personal perspective by virtue of my involvement in a series of initiatives aimed to strengthen civil society’s (as well as other international justice actors’) documentation efforts through the collection of standards and best practices, which the essay also discusses. In particular, it reviews the process and challenges of setting forth the first comprehensive guidance and set of best practices for civil society documentation with the Public International Law and Policy Group’s ‘Handbook on Civil Society Documentation of Serious Human Rights Violations’. It argues that civil society documentation efforts have undergone a revolution within the field: from the margins to the very heart of international judicial proceedings upholding accountability for international crimes. This revolution was, in part, rendered possible by a changing documentation landscape and the proliferation of documentation resources and capabilities now readily available to the civil society. After reviewing the current state of play with respect to documentary efforts and documentation best practices, which I situate within the context of a broader evolution of the international justice ‘ecosystem’, the article addresses some ongoing challenges in documentation and areas that would benefit of further strengthening in the future.

Collateral Consequences: The Effects of Justice Processing for Violations of Drug Laws in New York City

Collateral Consequences: The Effects of Justice Processing for Violations of Drug Laws in New York City

Transitional justice interventions in Sri Lanka: why do they keep failing?

ABSTRACT How can a country meaningfully commit to transitional justice interventions when ethnocracy and majoritarianism remain deeply entrenched in its political, legal and constitutional structures? Despite the creation of several commissions of inquiry and other mechanisms over the years to deal with the past, including those set up during the civil war, transitional justice and reconciliation have not been an integral part of Sri Lanka’s nation-building campaign and socio-cultural consciousness. Sri Lanka’s transitional justice interventions have historically been top-down, state-driven and elitist that lacked wider consultations with various groups and take their interests and demands into account. The oscillation between different political parties and their domestic and foreign policy orientations have had little impact. This article argues that the top-down and ‘one-size-fits-all’ transitional justice model does not work in certain societies, including Sri Lanka, and a shift to a unique and contexualised approach is imperative not only for longer-term sustainability but also to allow voices from the ground to be heard and included. This paper critiques the dominant transitional justice process and examines the challenges of achieving transitional justice in deeply divided societies where majoritarianism strengthens after the end of a violent conflict. Nonetheless, it acknowledges the risks of over-eulogising the bottom-up and local approach.

Understanding the Interplay of Race in the Criminal Justice System

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate and understand the interplay of race in the criminal justice system. Methodology: The study adopted a desktop research methodology. Desk research refers to secondary data or that which can be collected without fieldwork. Desk research is basically involved in collecting data from existing resources hence it is often considered a low cost technique as compared to field research, as the main cost is involved in executive’s time, telephone charges and directories. Thus, the study relied on already published studies, reports and statistics. This secondary data was easily accessed through the online journals and library. Findings: The findings reveal that there exists a contextual and methodological gap relating to the interplay of race, class and gender in the criminal justice system. Preliminary empirical review revealed that that pervasive racial disparities exist within this institution, as evidenced by disproportionate treatment of racial minorities at various stages of the criminal justice process. It found that despite efforts to promote fairness and equity, implicit biases and systemic racism continued to influence decision-making, leading to disparities in arrests, prosecutions, and sentencing. The study highlighted the interconnectedness of race with other social factors such as socioeconomic status and neighborhood characteristics and underscored the urgency of implementing evidence-based interventions and policy reforms to address racial disparities effectively. Recommendations included diversifying law enforcement agencies, implementing implicit bias training programs, and reforming sentencing guidelines to promote fairness and reduce disparities in incarceration rates. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The Critical Race theory, Labeling theory and Structural Functionalism may be used to anchor future studies on the interplay between race and the outcomes within criminal justice. The study provided recommendations that contributed to theory, practice, and policy. It integrated critical race theory into the analysis to explore systemic racism's role in perpetuating racial disparities. Practically, evidence-based policing strategies and procedural justice principles were emphasized, alongside community policing initiatives and accountability measures to address bias and misconduct. Policy recommendations included reforming sentencing laws, investing in alternatives to incarceration, and addressing social determinants of crime. The study contributed to theory by examining intersecting identities' impact and advocated for community-driven interventions, trauma-informed approaches, and reforms to reduce racial bias and enhance accountability within the criminal justice system.

Reforming the justice process as a basis for combating corruption

Despite the ongoing measures to combat corruption in the judicial system of the Russian Federation, there remain cases when the presiding judge in a case is guided not by the norms of laws, but by personal and other material interests, which necessitates a change in the approach to identify, eliminate the causes, prevent, disclose, investigate corruption offenses, minimize and eliminate such offenses. The subject of the study is the norms of constitutional, civil and administrative law, other normative legal and judicial acts defining the procedural provisions of ongoing trials in the Russian Federation. The purpose of the research is to study the existing measures to combat corruption in the judicial system, as well as to develop proposals aimed at identifying and suppressing them. In the course of the research, the following methods were used: dialectical, logical, systemic, functional, formal-legal, comparative-legal research methods. The study analyzes the main legislative provisions related to combating corruption, as well as procedural norms of the law of judicial processes. The novelty of the research is the consideration of judicial instances as a single entity, where judges are divided not by specific courts where they carry out their official activities, but by internal conviction, and judges are united depending on the judicial instance. At the same time, the concealment of information about the judges themselves and the introduction of certain prohibitions on establishing their identity by the participants in the process will not only reduce the dependence of judges on the participants in the process, but also increase their personal security and reduce corruption. The analysis of the conducted research allowed us to establish that currently in the Russian Federation there are cases of corruption in the judicial system, where one of the main directions is the imposition of an illegal and unjustified court order, and in some cases the acquittal of a person who committed a crime. In this regard, it is proposed to reform the process of justice, which is based on the concealment of information about the identity of the presiding judges.

"What Kind of Court Is This?": Perceptions of International Justice Among Rohingya Refugees

ABSTRACT: In the context of mass atrocities, the legitimacy of institutions for international justice—such as the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice—is based on the assumption that they vindicate demands for accountability by the survivors of horrific human rights violations. Yet, notwithstanding advances in victim representation at these Hague-based courts, victim-centered justice remains elusive. This article contributes to centering the voices of survivors in their specific cultural contexts, against the backdrop of existing efforts that too often render invisible their perspectives. Through semi-structured interviews, conducted in late 2022, with 444 Rohingya survivors of genocide who have fled Myanmar to refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh, we attempt to convey the priorities of these survivors situated within their cultural understanding of justice. We contextualize the empirical data gathered from the survey within Rohingyas' lived experiences of persecution in Myanmar, their cultural framings of communal justice, and their current reality of prolonged displacement in refugee camps in Bangladesh. The article concludes by describing the implications of this survey's findings on future engagement of the Rohingya in international justice processes, and a wider reflection on how grassroots perspectives can and should shape the global justice discourse.

Sistem Keadilan Juvana di Malaysia: Empat Prospek Penambahbaikan

The issue of children and adolescents involved in crime is an issue that needs serious attention as statistics and crime rates involving children show instability. There are various prospects for improvement that can be made in the juvenile justice system in Malaysia. Based on the perspective of social sciences and the findings from relevant previous studies, this article explores four prospects for improvement that can be considered by the Malaysian government, especially policy makers; namely the involvement of victims of crime in the justice process, the involvement of community members in the justice process, the active and comprehensive involvement of family members as well as the emphasis on aftercare. In addition, this article discusses the challenges that may be faced by the juvenile justice system that should also be considered in order to facilitate the process of improving the proposed prospects. This article contributes to the literature related to juvenile issues and the juvenile justice system in Malaysia which is expected to provide useful input for the reference of policymakers to further improve the effectiveness of the juvenile justice system in the country.

Human Rights and Transitional Justice in the Maldives: Closing the Door, Once and For All?

In 2020, the Maldives instituted a transitional justice process to address decades of systematic human rights abuses including the widespread use of arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, and the forced depopulation of entire island communities. While the country’s decision to confront its violent past is not unusual, the institution it has established to undertake that task is. Rather than institute a truth and reconciliation commission (TRC), refer cases to its Human Rights Commission, or undertake criminal trials in its domestic judicial system, the Maldives has taken the unprecedented step of establishing a temporary Ombudsperson’s Office for Transitional Justice (OTJ). Comparing the OTJ to national human rights institutions and TRCs, this article examines how and why the Maldives’ transitional justice process has taken this unusual form. It suggests that the OTJ represents a new attempt to address the full range of human rights abuses, including violations of social and economic rights, perpetrated by repressive regimes.

Transitioning forensic service providers to evaluative reporting: the example of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) Forensics Command

ABSTRACT Evaluative reporting (ER) is a formalized thought process that enables the evaluation of scientific findings given two competing propositions. There is growing awareness of the value of using ER to improve the communication and understanding of forensic results, contributing to a fairer justice process. Recognising this, AFP Forensics Command created a project to assist its teams to transition to ER. This paper presents some of our work and lessons learnt with the hope of providing valuable guidance to other teams or agencies wishing to embark on this journey.

URGENSI PERSIDANGAN ELEKTRONIK (E-LITIGASI) DALAM PERSPEKTIF HUKUM ACARA PERADILAN AGAMA DI PENGADILAN AGAMA PROBOLINGGO

This paper examines the necessity of electronic trials from the standpoint of religious court procedural law in the Probolinggo Religious Court. This article addresses information technology advancements that make e-litigation a viable option for enhancing the effectiveness, accessibility, and timeliness of religious justice processes. By using this technology, parties interested in judicial procedures can receive better services, information sharing can occur more quickly, and geographical obstacles can be reduced. This research examines the religious courts' procedural legal structure, which facilitates the use of computerized trials. In this regard, it is crucial to modify religious court rules to accommodate the requirement for e-litigation in order to prevent normative conflicts and guarantee the legitimacy of online legal proceedings. This study emphasizes how e-litigation may help communities have better access to justice. Electronic litigation has the potential to boost public engagement in the religious justice system by enabling litigants to view and monitor cases over the internet. Data security, privacy protection, and the preparedness of the technological infrastructure to handle possible hazards are given particular emphasis. This article attempts to give a thorough understanding of the use of information technology in the religious justice system by outlining the urgency, legal framework, advantages, and difficulties of e-litigation from the standpoint of religious justice procedural law. It is anticipated that the use of e-litigation would increase the efficacy and efficiency of the legal system, benefiting both religious justice and justice in general. Keywords: : e-Litigation; Procedural Law of Religious Courts; Religious courts.

Supporting equitable care of patients transferred from police watch-houses to the emergency department: A qualitative study of the perspectives of emergency doctors.

People detained in short-term police custody often have complex health conditions that may necessitate emergency care, yet little is known about their management in EDs. The present study aimed to understand ED doctors' experiences and perceptions regarding the appropriateness and management of detainee transfers from police watch-houses to the EDs. A qualitative descriptive study, using semi-structured interviews undertaken with ED doctors working in five purposively sampled EDs across Queensland, Australia. Data were analysed using inductive content analysis. Fifteen ED specialists and trainees participated. Participants reported that their overarching approach was to provide equitable care for watch-house detainees, as they would for any patient. This equitable approach needed to be responsive to complicating factors common to this population, including presence of police guards; restraints; complexity (physical/mental/social) of presentation; reliance on police to transport; ED doctors' often limited understanding of the watch-house environment; justice processes and uncertain legal disposition; communication with the watch-house; and detainees misreporting symptoms. Thresholds for assessment and treatment of detainees were contextualised to the needs of the patient, ED environment, and imperatives of other relevant agencies (e.g. police). Participants often relied on existing strategies to deliver quality care despite challenges, but also identified a need for additional strategies, including education for ED staff; improved communication with watch-houses; standardised paperwork; extended models of watch-house healthcare; and integrated medical records. Providing equitable healthcare to patients transported from watch-houses to the EDs is challenging but essential. Numerous opportunities exist to enhance the delivery of optimal care for this underserved population.

Making home alive again after war: Acoli Kaka’s Indigenous land sovereignties in Northern Uganda

AbstractAfter the war between the Ugandan government and the Lord's Resistance Army (1986‐2006), 90 per cent of the displaced rural population in Northern Uganda returned to small‐scale farming on their ancestral lands and their systems of communal land stewardship. At the time, there was much debate about transitional justice interventions to address war's violence, but in that same period over 85 per cent of Acoli chiefdoms saw affiliated clans, or kin‐based political communities (kaka), negotiate to write down their Indigenous governance constitutions for the first time. Acoli Kaka’s return to their ancestral lands and small‐scale farming, and subsequent engagements with tekwaro – Indigenous knowledge – through constitution writing, served to strengthen Indigenous governance and law after their weakening in contexts of war and displacement. It is argued here that these engagements and negotiations rooted in the land, regardless of their outcomes, served to orient relationships away from the fragmenting, unprecedented, forced Acoli‐on‐Acoli violence experienced during the war. A resurgence of Acoli Kaka’s Indigenous law and governance rooted in communal land stewardship is linked to relational repair and supports calls for transitional justice processes to nurture and respect Indigenous land rights. These ethnographic arguments also lend support to kaka’s ongoing efforts towards clan unity (ribbe kaka) and to secure communal land sovereignties.

Learning from Civil Society Actors in Turkey: Using Transitional Justice in an Ongoing Conflict

ABSTRACT∞ This article examines the role of civil society in the implementation of transitional justice in Turkey’s ongoing Kurdish conflict, which is characterized by historical state violence and a lack of official transitional justice processes. Drawing on 24 interviews, the research reveals the evolution of civil society engagement from its peak during the 2013–2015 peace process to its decline under increasing authoritarianism. The research argues that, despite challenges, civil society retains the potential to drive incremental change in the absence of formal transitional justice mechanisms. However, the authoritarian regime has significantly curtailed its capacity, creating a limited civic space for transitional justice. The article highlights the need for stronger links between civil society in Turkey and international transitional justice scholarship. Such collaboration could empower activists, enabling them to overcome challenges and increase their effectiveness. Turkey offers a unique case for transitional justice scholars and practitioners to learn from civil society actors committed to pursuing justice.

Singing truth to power: Transformative (gender) justice, musical spatialities and creative performance in periods of transition from violence

Feminist security studies have demonstrated that transitional justice processes worldwide have largely fallen short in providing actual transformative justice for women and that many gendered war experiences remain largely unaccounted for. Through an activist-academic collaboration and mobilizing feminist scholarship on war, embodiment and emotions together with literature on transitional justice and the arts, this article argues that women’s collective artistic resistance can foster deeper cultural and structural changes in transitional justice settings. By delving into the case of the women’s music collective Enkelé in Colombia, the article examines the creative possibilities afforded by music and choreography to document and testify to an enduring culture of violence and their role in probing the effectiveness of post–peace agreement transitional justice. We contend that paying attention to musical performances is key because these can express new visions of justice that are not constrained by the limits of what is possible and feasible in formal transitional justice mechanisms and can offer corporeal connectivity able to bring together communities fractured by war and armed conflict and to give visibility to knowledges and practices of memory and healing of marginalized communities.

Just collateral damage? Accountability of economic elites in peacebuilding and transitional justice in Colombia

AbstractAnalyzing how transitional justice (TJ) mechanisms address the role of economic and political elites in contexts of widespread violence is crucial for understanding their possible transformative impact. The type of challenges faced by TJ instruments when trying to deal with economic elites involved in human rights violations also reflects the extent and degree of these groups' power in a specific transitional context. Looking at the two main transitional justice processes in Colombia, this paper argues that accountability for these privileged actors tends to materialize in cases in which the alliances between different kinds of elites are threatened, or even collapse. However, as this article will show, judicial TJ mechanisms on their own can only have a very limited transformative impact on the accountability of economic elites and their liability for human rights violations in the absence of strong support by state institutions. TJ instruments can provide an exceptional framework to trigger and motivate meaningful transformations. Nonetheless, the concrete realization of these changes far exceeds the possibilities, capacity, and resources of TJ, which in and of itself cannot replace state institutions, especially an ordinary justice system that should continue to make progress on these cases.

Implementation of Plea Bargaining in the Indonesian Criminal Justice System

There is a need for a new system in the Indonesian Criminal Justice System that is thought to make case handling more efficient, specifically by adopting plea bargaining as a problem-solving method for the Indonesian criminal justice system. In this study, the issue formulation is how to implement plea bargaining in the present criminal justice system and the urgency of plea bargaining in the renewal of the Indonesian criminal justice system. The Normative Juridical Research technique was employed to generate this research. Normative Juridical Research is a type of legal research that involves literature study or just secondary information. The regulation on the application of Plea Bargaining in the current criminal justice system is not based on the value of justice, as Article 4 paragraph (2) of Law No. 48 of 2009 concerning Judicial Power mandates that the judicial process must be carried out quickly. At a low cost, but based on the problems that the author described in the previous sub-chapter, the criminal justice process has not been able to reach a simple judicature to this day. The complexity of the criminal justice process in Indonesia now prevents simple, quick, and low-cost judicial implementation from being accomplished in the criminal justice process in Indonesia. In this case, there is a need for a renovation of Indonesia's criminal justice system. This is the legal basis for the urgent need to establish Plea Bargaining in Indonesia.

Restorative Justice Responses to Sexual Violence: Perspectives and Experiences of Participating Persons Responsible and Persons Harmed

ABSTRACT The failings of mainstream Western criminal justice systems in dealing with sexual violence cases, including the potential revictimization and retraumatization, are well established. Accordingly, demand has grown for alternative justice mechanisms. Project Restore NZ is funded by the New Zealand government to facilitate specialist restorative justice processes for sexual violence cases in Aotearoa New Zealand. Referrals come both from the community and from the New Zealand criminal justice system. This research investigated the experiences and perspectives of both persons harmed and persons responsible who undertook a restorative justice process through Project Restore. A survey was made available to participants between 2016 and 2019 and was completed by 37 persons harmed and 28 persons responsible. Comprising both multi-choice quantitative and open-ended qualitative questions, the survey explored the preparatory stage, motivations, and outcomes of the restorative justice process, as well as the emotional and practical experiences of the process itself. Although there is some variation in responses, the findings indicate that a majority of both persons harmed and persons responsible generally had positive perspectives on and experiences of the restorative justice processes offered by Project Restore.

Courtroom decorum and the rules of conduct: accounts of homicide co-victims’ experiences during criminal justice proceedings

ABSTRACT The right to be present for criminal justice proceedings is one of the key rights afforded crime victims and their families. A neglected but important area of investigation pertains to the adherence to rules of conduct in order to safeguard court decorum. This qualitative study explores what rules of conduct are commonly experienced by and, in some cases, enforced against homicide co-victims while attending such proceedings. The sample consists of 27 co-victims connected to 23 separate cases where the homicides occurred in a major metropolitan area in the southeastern United States. Drawing upon focus group data, NVivo 12 was employed to identify and illustrate themes associated with rules of conduct. About one-half of the co-victims reported facing dilemmas or restrictions when particular rules were not followed or upheld by themselves or the defendants’ families. Though infrequent, some co-victims were warned or removed from court for wearing inappropriate attire or failing to control one’s emotions. For some rules, co-victims felt that they were treated differently from the defendant and defendant’s family. The study concludes by discussing ways that courts can better balance the needs of homicide co-victims with the rights of the accused in maintaining etiquette in the courtroom.

Türkiye’deki Kadın Cinayetlerine Sosyal Medyadan Adalet Aramak

Social media platforms have become powerful tools for advocating rights and pursuing justice by mobilizing virtual “crowds”. In Türkiye, where confidence in the justice system has declined, social media has emerged as an alternative means to seek justice. Social media activism is frequently employed in response to femicides, encompassing various communication and legal aspects. This article aims to investigate how social media is utilized in the fight against femicide in Türkiye. Does seeking justice through social media truly influence court decisions? Do users adhere to democratic principles and freedom of expression while engaging in social media activism? What are the positive and negative effects? Additionally, what legal challenges arise from the use of social media? These are the questions explored in this study. Instances such as the release of perpetrators of violence against women, protracted legal processes, or defendants benefiting from lenient sentences deeply disturb public conscience, erode confidence in the justice system, and propel social media activism, which spreads rapidly among the masses. To examine the legal aspects of the issue, in-depth interviews were conducted with fifteen lawyers. The findings reveal that social media posts seeking justice for femicides have a significant impact on large audiences. The study demonstrates that social media serves as a mechanism of social pressure accelerating the process of justice and plays a crucial role in the pursuit of justice. Nevertheless, it also highlights the potential legal risks associated with social media activism.