United Nations Development Programme Jamaica

Senator the Honourable Dorothy Lightbourne, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Distinguished members of the Head Table, Colleagues, Partners, Ladies and Gentlemen-good morning.

I extend to you all the good wishes of the UNDP Jamaica, Resident Representative, Mr. Minh Pham and that of the entire UNDP team.

UNDP is extremely pleased to be associated with this theme and vision. Under the Jamaica Violence Prevention, Peace & Sustainable Development Project the UNDP has been supporting the Ministry's efforts to develop a national restorative justice policy.

In 2007 UNDP funded a Restorative Justice Formulation Team, to conduct, under the auspices of the Ministry, research and consultations with stakeholders and to draft a comprehensive national policy for restorative justice.

This process was followed by some 23 national consultations across Jamaica during 2008, and just this past Sunday, May 24, UNDP advertised the position of a National Technical Advisor who will coordinate a Restorative Justice Unit in the Ministry.

These are the technical inputs - necessary but not sufficient for entrenching restorative justice in the Jamaican justice system. This element will require a culture shift - away from violence and retribution; towards a culture of peace, reconciliation and empowerment, beginning at the level of individuals, households, communities and finally the nation.

As the report of the Restorative Justice Formulation Team showed, Jamaica already is fertile ground for a culture of restoration, peace and justice. The report notes:

• Practices that are restoratively oriented are happening throughout the country under the stewardship of community-based organisations, NGOs such as the Dispute Resolution Foundation, the Peace Management Initiative and others
• Strong government interest in the possibility that restorative justice can help respond to the challenges of community breakdown and violence
• The desperate cry for a new way of doing things and the pervasive sense that the current problems of violence, crime and wrongdoing are not sustainable
• Strong alignment with Jamaica's Christian values - restorative justice is aligned with Christian teachings of mercy, redemption, love, forgiveness and peace.

The report reminds us that Restorative Justice is not new but has been a dominant model of criminal justice throughout most of human history across all cultures and regions of the world. Thus, a move towards a restorative model of justice can be seen as a return to some of the roots of justice, not as a "new-age" fad for an ailing justice system.

UNDP therefore looks forward to the outcomes of the conference, in particular, the lessons to be learned from the international and national presentations on Community Justice Tribunals and other strategies that are emerging as good practice in the field.

UNDP remains committed to giving strong support to the Ministry of Justice and other partners playing a leadership role in Jamaica towards Transforming individual, family, community and country.

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