03/09/2009 Restorative Justice in Resource Management Prosecutions – a Facilitator’s Perspective

I have been puzzled for some time about the reasons for the slow uptake in the use of restorative justice in resource management prosecutions. The judiciary advocates its use, Judge McElrea in particular publishes regularly on its value, there is a statutory obligation under the Victims Rights Act 2002 for defence counsel and prosecutors to consider its use and conference participants enthuse about it. Yet despite the fact that over 80% of defendants in resource management prosecutions plead guilty, nationally there were only six restorative justice conferences in the period July 2001 to April 2005 and thirteen in the period May 2005 to June 2008. During these...

03/09/2008 Lawyers in Negotiation – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

For a mediator, a day in mediation is an enriching experience. It is a privilege to watch parties move from what at first blush, appeared to be an intractable dispute attended by a high level of conflict, to resolution at the mediation table. Everyday in mediation we witness a shift in parties’ understanding of a dispute and in consequence their approach to it. We get to understand a little more about the complexities of the human psyche, what moves and shakes people, what pushes buttons and what has profound impact. Granted some of this may be less than obvious in a more tradtional negotiation about “the money”, but...