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Feasibility of Implementing Restorative Justice into Tonga's Justice System

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Date

2023

Authors

Supervisor

Fa'amatuainu, Bridget
Charlton, Guy

Item type

Thesis

Degree name

Master of Laws

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Publisher

Auckland University of Technology

Abstract

The term ‘restorative justice’ is a broad term and has therefore begotten a plethora of definitions and meanings. However, restorative justice is believed to be a philosophy with practical goals aiming to repair harm through voluntary and honest dialogue by both parties. Restorative justice shifts the view from the traditional meaning of crime and gives it a fresh rehabilitative approach. Crime violates not only the law but people and their relationships. This violation imposes an obligation on the offender and a sense of ‘accountability’ to make things right for those that have been directly affected – victim, offender, and community. Through this, restorative justice essentially helps to promote repair, reconciliation and reassurance by seeking a balanced approach which engages the harmed parties. This is a radically different response to crime in comparison to the traditional criminal justice system which tends to focus on the identification and punishment of offenders. The Kingdom of Tonga is a small island in the Pacific that, like most Pacific Islands, is embedded with a rich history of traditions and practices. Its core values are founded upon Christian principles that promotes a close-knitted society that is stronger when together. This is illustrated using the of a basket woven together with each strand in place. Tonga calls this the faa’i kavei koula (the four golden strands) where each strand represents a value that are woven together and creates the existing society of Tonga. For this reason, countries such as Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia were reviewed in the following study to provide an understanding as to how Tonga’s justice system could be improved upon to implement restorative justice. These four countries will provide insight into indigenous forms of conflict resolution can be integrated into its justice system. The information gathered can then utilised in improving Tonga’s justice system to incorporate restorative justice into their processes. This analysis has been designed to answer the following research questions: “Can restorative justice be implemented in Tonga and how?” and “what are the benefits and disadvantages of implementing restorative justice in Tonga?” To guide this study in answering the research question, doctrinal research methodology will be employed. Doctrinal research is a theory-based methodology that involves the analysis of relevant legislation and cases to provide an analysis of how the law has developed. This analysis is intended to critique and improve the law. Doctrinal has developed into a research method that also includes the social context in which the law is applied. This development has allowed for the research methodology to involve the body of literature to provide insight. Dent has likened this research method to a qualitative literature review. As this study will focus on the legislations in each jurisdiction, cases, as well as literature to analyse the feasibility of implementing restorative justice, doctrinal seemed the most fitting to apply.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10292/18214

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Masters Theses