Restorative justice: the feasibility of alternative models of justice

ABSTRACT

The issue of overloaded, and backlogged courts is not new. Despite the 2016 Supreme Court of Canada R. v. Jordan ruling which set a “presumptive ceiling” of 18 months for summary and 30 months for indictable cases respectively, the issue can be traced back decades before. In particular, the Supreme Court of Canada has intervened three other times on the issue of unreasonable delays, and the corresponding section of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (section 11 (b)). Despite these interventions, the underlying problems which cause court delays remain unaddressed. As a result, new solutions to this persistent problem ought to be considered. This article aims to explore whether or not restorative justice (RJ) is a feasible alternative. In particular, RJ appears to be more efficient, cost less, and result in lower levels of recidivism and higher levels of satisfaction among participants. Despite these benefits, it will be argued that RJ is unlikely to be considered for broader use in Canada due to the political landscape and prevailing beliefs among Canadians regarding punitive punishments. Changes to the Criminal Code might help rectify this dilemma.

KEYWORDS:

• Restorative justice
• R. v. Jordan
• punitive punishment
• criminal justice reform
• court
• backlog

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Matthew G. Yeager

Matthew G. Yeager obtained his bachelor’s degree in criminology from the School of Criminology, U.C. Berkeley, in 1972. He has a master’s degree in criminal justice from the State University of New York at Albany (1975), and a Ph.D. in sociology from Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada (2006). He has published over 50 articles and studies in theoretical and applied criminology, in addition to being a clinical criminologist with expertise in sentencing alternatives and parole release. Indeed, he still carries a caseload of Lifers and Dangerous Offenders in the Canadian federal penal system, whom he assists with parole representation. Dr. Yeager is currently an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at King’s University College at Western University Canada. He is the editor of Illegal Enterprise: The Work of Historian Mark Haller (2013), and the author of Frank Tannenbaum: The Making of a Convict Criminologist (2016), and Dangerous Men: Ideology and the Personification of Evil (2021). Professor Yeager specializes in dangerous offenders, convict criminology, critical criminology, crimes of the powerful, and political economy.

Matthew Chappelle

Matthew Chappelle obtained his bachelor’s degree in Criminology from Western University in 2019. He holds a Master’s of Science from King’s College London in the United Kingdom (2021), and is currently a law student at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University in Toronto, Canada.