Papua New Guinea

Provides a listing of articles on restorative justice developments in Papua New Guinea. Articles appear in the order in which they were added to the site with the most recent appearing first.

Incorporating Custom Law into State Law in Melanesia1: In this article, Pat Howley describes the revival of custom law in Bougainville and its importance in building peace.
The Bougainville Project of PEACE Foundation Melanesia: Founded in 1995, PEACE Foundation Melanesia is a grassroots organization working on peacemaking in Papua New Guinea. Much of its early work focused on Bougainville training village leaders to be peacemakers.
Zarriga, Ruby. Restorative Justice in Papua New Guinea: A Collaborative Effort: Zarriga discusses the link between community development and restorative justice. Important common elements between the two include: (1) self-determination; (2) fitting the community pace; (3) participation; (4) starting where people are; (5) training local leadership. Zarriga also provides examples of conflict resolution.
Ivoro, John. Conflict Resolution in a Multi-Cultural Urban Setting in Papua New Guinea: John Ivoro describes the work of the Ivani/Saraga Dispute Settlement Committee. Ivoro and others were trained as mediators by the Peace Foundation Melanesia and used these skills to help people in their community to resolve conflicts. He descibes the processes used and the needs for variations to fit the cultural context of the different groups living in the area.
Rumsey, Alan. Tribal Warfare and Transformative Justice in the New Guinea Highlands: Rumsey describes the cycles of tribal warfare and the creation of trade relationships in the Western highlands of Papua New Guinea. After the discussion of historical practices, he talks about more recent conflicts and innovative responses to them. For Rumsey, the usual description of restorative justice is inconsistent with these practices. He opts for the term 'transformative jutsice.'
Goddard, Michael. The Age Of Steam: Constructed Identity and Recalcitrant Youth in a Papua New Guinea Village: Michael Goddard describes the Village Court in Pari Village Port Moresby, Papua New Guine. The institution of the village court, where traditional leaders use informal processes to respond to conflicts and minor crimes, has been described as restorative. Goddard challenges this view by looking at the meanings behind certain practices in the village court at Pari. He states that in this analysis of the Pari Village Court, "I contextualise a judicial process which might be glossed as restorative in issues of comunal identity, the interpretation of tradition and the negotiation of modern sociality. I hope to show here that restorative justice cannot be analytically abstracted from its immediate social context, and that within that context it can founder on the contestability of the cultural meaning to which it is putatively adapted.
Dinnen, Sinclair and Cain, Tess Newton and Jowitt, Anita and Cain, Tess Newton. A Kind of Mending: Retorative Justice in the Pacific Islands: This collection of essays grew out of the conference ‘Restorative Justice and Conflict Management in the Pacific Islands’ hosted by the State, Society and Governance in Melanesia Project at Australia National University and the Law School of the University of South Pacific. The group of academics, criminal justice professionals, and community activists discusses restorative justice as a viable option for the Pacific Islands because it resonates with traditional processes and practices. This optimism is reinforced by descriptions of innovative practices used to resolve conflict situations in recent history. At the same time, several writers caution against the assumption that traditional practices or attitudes are automatically restorative.
Banks, Cyndi. Victims in the Village: Aspects of Restorative Justice in Papua New Guinea: In the villages of Vanimo West Coast, Papua New Guinea, restorative justice processes continue to adhere to traditional practices and beliefs. The article examines how modernization has influenced traditional restorative practices and in particular how the criminal justice system is perceived and used by indigenous peoples. It also identifies the kinds of acts considered injurious, traditional restorative justice practices, and modern attitudes and practices by victims seeking justice. Villages have maintained a private/public distinction in their disputes, keeping disputes between close kin private, and publicizing others. Traditionally, disputes made public would be taken to the Chief. Today, in some cases, the courts and the community government council are the chosen forums for publication. Sometimes a victim seeks only to shame the offender by making the dispute public, this being an end in itself. The article makes explicit the capacity of victims for adaptation and the continued resilience of custom in resolving grievances. Abstract courtesy of Natinal Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.
Sarei, Noel. Country Report: Papua New Guinea: Papua New Guinea has legislation policies, which are directed at the protection of victims of crime. The Papua New Guinea Constitution speaks of the Basic Rights of all people (Division 3. Basic Rights. Sections 32-56) but not specifically on the ‘victims of crimes’. The Papua New Guinea Department of Attorney General in its 2000 Policy on Community Corrections further made a commitment to protect the victims of crime in Papua New Guinea. The ten year plan – The National Law and Justice Policy and Plan of Action 2001-2010 entitled Towards Restorative Justice pursues very strongly the development of a Victim Support Policy. The Policy states: “Developing a Victim Support Policy promotes another goal of the law and Justice Policy. That goal is to bring the victims of crime and conflict back into the centre of the law and justice process. All too often, victims are either ignored or sidelined under the current system. A vital step towards restoring confidence and genuine fairness in law and justice processes is to recognise the injury suffered by victims and to support when appropriate. The aim of this policy is to evaluate and strengthen the existing support structures such as the women’s refuges; Police Sexual Offences Section; the parole and probation; Life Line, social workers at the hospitals; the churches; criminal compensation; the courts; and the non-government organizations who are taking the lead to provide assistance to the victims of crime. (excerpt)
Howley, Patrick. Citizenship Education Case Study: Community Justice in Bougainville (Papua New Guinea): This document consists of a description of innovations to the community justice system instituted by residents of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea. It is written in a combination of question-and-answer and outline format. The paper covers the philosophy, rationale, principles, elements, and processes of Bougainville’s experiment with a new kind of community justice – namely, restorative justice. More specifically, it covers the background to restorative justice in Bougainville, the present justice system in the villages, custom law, the nature and purpose of shame, mediation, and processes of community justice in villages and towns.
Peace Foundation Melanesia: PEACE Foundation Melanesia is an NGO in Papua New Guinea that provides mediation and restorative justice training to local communities and groups in conflict. This article was written by Br. Pat Howley, executive director of Peace Foundation Melanesia.
Possibilities for Restorative Justice in Papua New Guinea.: High crime rates and high levels of insecurity place effective crime control at the forefront of policy debates in Papua New Guinea. Much of the public outcry focuses on stronger law enforcement measures: increasing the training, equipment, and personnel for the police force. However, some initiatives draw from traditional approaches to resolving conflict.

Sections

Papua New Guinea

Document Actions

Personal tools


Navigation Lecture Hall Introduction to Restorative Justice Restorative Justice around the World Africa Asia Europe Latin America Middle East North America and the Caribbean Pacific Indigenous Juvenile Justice Court Evaluation School Articles from RJ Online All Documents Pacific Tonga Australia Fiji Guam New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Educational Opportunities Restorative Justice Theory Making Amends Restorative Justice Course Syllabi Book Reviews Video Reviews Real People, Real Stories Practice Manuals Evaluation Research Evaluation Tools Role Plays Using Restorative Practices	Info Papua New Guinea Provides a listing of articles on restorative justice developments in Papua New Guinea. Articles appear in the order in which they were added to the site with the most recent appearing first. Incorporating Custom Law into State Law in Melanesia1 In this article, Pat Howley describes the revival of custom law in Bougainville and its importance in building peace. The Bougainville Project of PEACE Foundation Melanesia Founded in 1995, PEACE Foundation Melanesia is a grassroots organization working on peacemaking in Papua New Guinea. Much of its early work focused on Bougainville training village leaders to be peacemakers. Zarriga, Ruby. Restorative Justice in Papua New Guinea: A Collaborative Effort Zarriga discusses the link between community development and restorative justice. Important common elements between the two include: (1) self-determination; (2) fitting the community pace; (3) participation; (4) starting where people are; (5) training local leadership. Zarriga also provides examples of conflict resolution. Ivoro, John. Conflict Resolution in a Multi-Cultural Urban Setting in Papua New Guinea John Ivoro describes the work of the Ivani/Saraga Dispute Settlement Committee. Ivoro and others were trained as mediators by the Peace Foundation Melanesia and used these skills to help people in their community to resolve conflicts. He descibes the processes used and the needs for variations to fit the cultural context of the different groups living in the area. Rumsey, Alan. Tribal Warfare and Transformative Justice in the New Guinea Highlands Rumsey describes the cycles of tribal warfare and the creation of trade relationships in the Western highlands of Papua New Guinea. After the discussion of historical practices, he talks about more recent conflicts and innovative responses to them. For Rumsey, the usual description of restorative justice is inconsistent with these practices. He opts for the term 'transformative jutsice.' Goddard, Michael. The Age Of Steam: Constructed Identity and Recalcitrant Youth in a Papua New Guinea Village Michael Goddard describes the Village Court in Pari Village Port Moresby, Papua New Guine. The institution of the village court, where traditional leaders use informal processes to respond to conflicts and minor crimes, has been described as restorative. Goddard challenges this view by looking at the meanings behind certain practices in the village court at Pari. He states that in this analysis of the Pari Village Court, "I contextualise a judicial process which might be glossed as restorative in issues of comunal identity, the interpretation of tradition and the negotiation of modern sociality. I hope to show here that restorative justice cannot be analytically abstracted from its immediate social context, and that within that context it can founder on the contestability of the cultural meaning to which it is putatively adapted. Dinnen, Sinclair and Cain, Tess Newton and Jowitt, Anita and Cain, Tess Newton. A Kind of Mending: Retorative Justice in the Pacific Islands This collection of essays grew out of the conference ‘Restorative Justice and Conflict Management in the Pacific Islands’ hosted by the State, Society and Governance in Melanesia Project at Australia National University and the Law School of the University of South Pacific. The group of academics, criminal justice professionals, and community activists discusses restorative justice as a viable option for the Pacific Islands because it resonates with traditional processes and practices. This optimism is reinforced by descriptions of innovative practices used to resolve conflict situations in recent history. At the same time, several writers caution against the assumption that traditional practices or attitudes are automatically restorative. Banks, Cyndi. Victims in the Village: Aspects of Restorative Justice in Papua New Guinea In the villages of Vanimo West Coast, Papua New Guinea, restorative justice processes continue to adhere to traditional practices and beliefs. The article examines how modernization has influenced traditional restorative practices and in particular how the criminal justice system is perceived and used by indigenous peoples. It also identifies the kinds of acts considered injurious, traditional restorative justice practices, and modern attitudes and practices by victims seeking justice. Villages have maintained a private/public distinction in their disputes, keeping disputes between close kin private, and publicizing others. Traditionally, disputes made public would be taken to the Chief. Today, in some cases, the courts and the community government council are the chosen forums for publication. Sometimes a victim seeks only to shame the offender by making the dispute public, this being an end in itself. The article makes explicit the capacity of victims for adaptation and the continued resilience of custom in resolving grievances. Abstract courtesy of Natinal Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org. Sarei, Noel. Country Report: Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea has legislation policies, which are directed at the protection of victims of crime. The Papua New Guinea Constitution speaks of the Basic Rights of all people (Division 3. Basic Rights. Sections 32-56) but not specifically on the ‘victims of crimes’. The Papua New Guinea Department of Attorney General in its 2000 Policy on Community Corrections further made a commitment to protect the victims of crime in Papua New Guinea. The ten year plan – The National Law and Justice Policy and Plan of Action 2001-2010 entitled Towards Restorative Justice pursues very strongly the development of a Victim Support Policy. The Policy states: “Developing a Victim Support Policy promotes another goal of the law and Justice Policy. That goal is to bring the victims of crime and conflict back into the centre of the law and justice process. All too often, victims are either ignored or sidelined under the current system. A vital step towards restoring confidence and genuine fairness in law and justice processes is to recognise the injury suffered by victims and to support when appropriate. The aim of this policy is to evaluate and strengthen the existing support structures such as the women’s refuges; Police Sexual Offences Section; the parole and probation; Life Line, social workers at the hospitals; the churches; criminal compensation; the courts; and the non-government organizations who are taking the lead to provide assistance to the victims of crime. (excerpt) Howley, Patrick. Citizenship Education Case Study: Community Justice in Bougainville (Papua New Guinea) This document consists of a description of innovations to the community justice system instituted by residents of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea. It is written in a combination of question-and-answer and outline format. The paper covers the philosophy, rationale, principles, elements, and processes of Bougainville’s experiment with a new kind of community justice – namely, restorative justice. More specifically, it covers the background to restorative justice in Bougainville, the present justice system in the villages, custom law, the nature and purpose of shame, mediation, and processes of community justice in villages and towns. Peace Foundation Melanesia PEACE Foundation Melanesia is an NGO in Papua New Guinea that provides mediation and restorative justice training to local communities and groups in conflict. This article was written by Br. Pat Howley, executive director of Peace Foundation Melanesia. Possibilities for Restorative Justice in Papua New Guinea. High crime rates and high levels of insecurity place effective crime control at the forefront of policy debates in Papua New Guinea. Much of the public outcry focuses on stronger law enforcement measures: increasing the training, equipment, and personnel for the police force. However, some initiatives draw from traditional approaches to resolving conflict. Document Actions Send this Print this	Africa Asia Europe Latin America Middle East North America and Caribbean Pacific Search 9932 publications on restorative justice Recent RJOB Comments Oakland as a RJ city? Jul 29, 2010 Trauma Jul 29, 2010 Psych Reports to BPT board Jul 29, 2010 More… Slide Show: What is Restorative Justice Click to view a slideshow discussing the definition of restorative justice. Jul 21, 2010 Promoting Restorative Justice in Panama Jul 28, 2010 Raising Community Awareness in Swaziland Jul 28, 2010 Exploring alternatives in Finland Jul 28, 2010 PF Rwanda Receives Grant for Reconciliation Work Jun 27, 2010 Restorative Justice in the Community.