Effective and Humane

"Effective and Humane": Restorative and Māori Justice Approaches to the Prison Crisis Conference

"Effective and Humane": Restorative and Māori Justice Approaches to the Prison Crisis was an international conference held from 24-25 October 2018 on how the theory and practice of restorative justice might inform the direction and practice of penal policy in Aotearoa New Zealand. The event brought scholars and practitioners who have employed restorative approaches in the prison sector, especially in the European context, to engage in dialogue with New Zealand academics and policy professionals.

Co-hosted by the Diana Unwin Chair in Restorative Justice and the Brian Picot Chair in Ethical Leadership, this gathering provided an interdisciplinary platform for thinking creatively about how restorative justice and kaupapa Māori can offer fresh approaches in Corrections and prisoner reintegration.

The conference was attended by 200 participants, which included 37 speaker and workshop presenters, and over 42 organisations were represented.

Media coverage of the conference & speakers

Tim Chapman: Restorative justice in Northern Ireland (interviewed by Kim Hill on RNZ)
Conference speaker Tim Chapman, from Northern Ireland, works in the area of restorative justice in the community and in prisons. He was employed by the probation service for 25 years and is now teaching a Masters programme in Restorative Practices at the University of Ulster.

Tracey McIntosh: Investing in state care not state prisons (interviewed by Wallace Chapman on RNZ)
Conference speaker Tracey McIntosh , Professor of Indigenous Studies at Auckland University, has researched incarceration (particularly of Māori and Indigenous peoples) that shows a distinct pattern of children who are removed from their families being on a trajectory to prison.

Fixing the justice system will take a generation
A story on the Newsroom website examined cross-party political support for restorative justice practices, with commentary from Professor Chris Marshall & Dr Tom Noakes-Duncan.