RESTORATIVE JUSTICE INITIATIVES IN NEW ZEALAND
Pamela Phillips*
I. THE FAMILY GROUPCONFERENCE
T he Y o u th J us tic e F a m il y G ro u p
Conference (FGC) is a statutory decisionmaking process involving, among others,
the young offender (alleged or proved),members of their family/whanau, and thevictim of the offence and their supporters.
It is a forum to determine whether thechild or young person committed thealleged offence, and, where the offence isadmitted, to develop a plan that ensures:•

The child or young person is held
accountable and encouraged to accept
responsibility for their offending.
The interests of the victim are taken
into account.
Any measures taken for dealing withthe offending, strengthen the family/
whanau and family group, and foster
their ability to develop their own
means of dealing with offending by
their child or young person.
The principles of the Children, YoungP e r s o n s a n d t h e i r F a m il ie s A c t(CYP&F Act—here after referred toas the Act) are followed.

•••

For the FGC to be valid it must be
convened in accordance with thelegislation. To enable participants to
speak freely and without fear that things
they say may be used against them or
published, the use of information shared
during the conference cannot be used in
the courts, or be published.
* Coordinator Community Conferencing,
Queensland, Australia(New Zealand)

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II. PRINCIPLES
The principles that govern the FGC are
set out in the Act. Summarised theseprinciples state:a. Unless the public interest requires
otherwise, proceedings should not be
instituted against a child or youngpe rson if the re is an alter nativemeans of dealing with the matter.
b. Proceedings should not be institutedsolely to provide assistance or services
needed to advance the welfare of theyoung person or their family group.
c. Measures taken should be designed tostrengthen families and foster theirow n m ea ns of de a ling w ith the ir
offending young.
d. Young offenders should be kept in thecommunity where practicable andconsonant with the need to ensure
public safety.
e. Age of itself is a mitigation factor inde te rm in ing whe the r a sanc tio nshould be imposed and the nature ofany sanction.
f. Sanctions should take the form most
likely to maintain and promote thedevelopment of the offender within
their family group, and be the least
restrictive form appropriate.
g. Any measures taken should haveregard to the interests of victims.
III. TYPES OF REFERRALS
There are a number of different typesof referrals for a FGC. These are:

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A. Child Offender (10 – 13 years
inclusive)with the m a tter , an d if so, to m a ke
decisions, recommendations and plans.

1. Grounds
W he n a p o lic e o ff ice r ha s se rio us
concerns for a child’s well being, becauseof their offending and the police officer
believes that a declaration that the childis in n ee d of ca r e a nd p ro te ctio n isrequired in the public interest.

4. Time limits
Must be convened within 21 days andcom ple te d within one m onth unle ss
special reasons exist.

2. Referred by
Police, after consultation with a Youth
Justice Coordinator.

1. Grounds
A young p erson a ppea rs in Court,
denies the charge and the Court makes
an order placing them in the custody of
the Director-General.

3. Function
To consider whether the child is inneed of care and protection because ofth eir offending and if so, to mak e
decisions, recommendations and plans.
4. Time limits
Must be convened within 21 days andco mp leted within o ne m o nth unlessspecial reasons exist.
B. Young person (14 – 16 years
inclusive), Alleged to Have
Committed an Offence
1. Grounds
The police allege that a young person
has committed an offence. They have notbeen arrested and the police believe thatthe public interest requires proceedings
to be instituted. This type of referral is
known as an ‘intention to charge’ referral.
2. Referred by
Police, after consultation with a Youth
Justice Coordinator.
3. Function
To consider whether the young person
the young person admits the offence,
whether they should be prosecuted orwhether there is another way of dealing

C. Young Person in Custody on
Denial of Offence

2. Referred by
Court directs Youth Justice
Coordinator to convene an FGC.
3. Function
To ma k e re co m m end a tio ns to the
Court about the custody of the young
person pending determination of thecharge.
4. Time limits
Must be convened within 7 days andcompleted within 7 days unless special
reasons exist.
D. Young Person Appears in Court—
Offence Not Denied
1. Grounds
The young person appears in court
either following arrest or on a summons,and does ‘not deny’ the charge.
2. Referred by
Court directs a Youth Justice
Coordinator to convene an FGC.
3. Function
To consider whether the young person
admits the offence and w hether theyshould be dealt with by Court or whether

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there is another way to deal with them atter.
Toma kedecisions,recommendations and plans.
4. Time limits
If the young person is in custody —must be convened w ithin 7 days andcompleted within 7 days, unless special
reasons exist.
If the young person is not in custody —must be convened within 14 days andcompleted within 7 days, unless special
reasons exist.

•
•
•
•
•
•
•

E. Charge Against a Young Person
has been Proved
1. Grounds
A young pe rson ap pea rs in C ourt,
denies the charge and the Court find thecharge has been proven.
2. Referred by
Court directs Youth Justice
Coordinator to convene an FGC.
3. Function
To consider how the young person
should be dealt with for the offence andmake decisions, recommendations andplans.
4. Time limits
Must be convened within 14 days andcompleted within 7 days unless special
reasons exist.
IV. PERSONS ENTITLED TO
ATTEND THE FGC
The Act sets out the people who areentitled to attend the FGC. These are:
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the child or young person.
every person who is:- a parent- a guardiana person having care of the childor young person.
members of the child or young
person’s family/whanau or extended
family group.
a Youth Justice Coordinator.
a police officer.
any victims and support persons, ortheir representative.
Youth Advocate.
persons representing organisations
when the child or young person is
subject to Court orders.
any other person the family/whanau
or family group of the child or young
person wishes to be present.

Exclusion of entitled persons is not
permitted.
V. PREPARING FOR THE FGC
W hen conve nin g the FG C the A ct
requires the Youth Justice Coordinator
to:
•
•
•

Consult with the young person, theirfamily, the police and victim to set thetime, date and place of the FGC.
Obtain the views of those unable toattend.
Ensure all relevant information andadvise is available to the FGC.

A. Best Practice in FGC Preparation
Thorough preparation is the key to a
successful FGC. Necessary preparation
includ es identif ying the entitledmemb ers, fully info rm ing the young
person, their family and the victim, of
their rights and obligations, theimportance of their role in the conference,
and about the FGC process itself. It isalso an opportunity for the participants tobuild their trust in the coordinator — thecoordinator must be perceived as fair,non-judgemental and sensitive to theparticipants concerns.

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1. Interviewing the young person
F ace-to-fa ce me etings are usuallyconducted with the young person in thepresence of their parents or caregivers. It
is often necessary to speak to the young
person alone. This is especially importantw h e r e th e r e i s s ig n i f ic a n t c o n f li c t
b etw een the young person a nd theirparents, or if the offence was committed
by the yo ung pe rson against theirparents.
As well as providing information to theyoung person and their parents, theopportunity is used to identify otherfamily members and significant people inthe young persons life.
2. Interviewing the young person’sfamilyFace-to-face meetings achieve the best
results in terms of attendance of thewider family group, however distancesometimes prev ents this. In thesecircumstances contact is made via phone
in preference to correspondence.
Often the parents of the young person
will take responsibility to contact othermembers of the family and discuss theforthcoming conference with them. When
this happens the parents give the contact
details of these family members to thecoordinator who follows up with a written
invitation for them to attend theconference.
3. Interviewing the victim and theirsupporters
T he c oo rd ina to r is o fte n the f irst
‘official’ other than the investigating
police officer, to talk to the victim since
the offence. It is therefore important thatthe coordinator meets face-to-face withthem and any supporters they wish tobring to their conference. This meetingprovides the opportunity for the victim to
discuss the offence and its impact. In

addition the coordinator will explain theconference process and assist the victim
to consider realistic outcomes.
B. Setting the Time, Date and Placefor the FGC
The FGC should be arranged for a timeand date that suits the young person,
their family, the victim and the attending
police officer. This usually means outsidecore school and working hours. Police
stations and Courts are not suitableve nu e s f o r a n F G C . F o r r e a s o n s o f
personal safety or comfort, victims may
be more likely to attend an FGC if it isheld at a neutral venue.
VI. HOLDING THE FGC
A. Opening the Conference
T h e o p e n in g o f t he co nf e re n c e i susually determined by cultural protocol.
For example if the conference is on a
Marae a formal welcome will be made to
the conference participants. However, it
is important that the coordinator ensuresthat introductions a re ma de so tha t
everyone is aware of each other’s name,their relationships to the offence, and the
young person or victim.
Coordinators also take the opportunity
to reinforce information given at theconference
preparation
stage.
Particularly:••••

The process that the conference will
follow.
The principles of the Act that govern
the conference.
The confidential nature of theconference proceedings.
That the coordinators role will be tofacilitate the process to enable theconference to come to an agreementa b o u t w h a t sh o u ld h a p p e n a s aconsequence of the offence.

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B. Determining whether the Young
Person Admits the Offence
The usual practice is for thecoordinator to ask the police officer tobegin by reading out the offence and thesummary of facts. The coordinator willthen ask the young person whether they
admit the offence as the police officer has
outlined. If the young person does not
admit the offence the conference is closed
and the matter is referred back to thepolice, or the court, for their decision ona ny sub seq uent action. I f the young
person admits the offence the conference
proceeds.
C. Information Sharing/Story
Telling
In this stage of the conference eachparticipant will tell his or her story. The
purpose of this is to elicit the facts of theof fence and the impa ct of the young
persons actions on all participants. Each
person is given the opportunity to speak
without interruption.
1. The young persons story
It is important that the young person
begins by telling their story. In this way
they begin ‘admitting’ what they did infront of the victims and their own family.
If others start by telling what happened
the young person is likely to become
defensive and deny points of detail. The
young person may leave out details ino r d e r t o m in i m i s e w h a t h a p p e n e d .
Victims and co offenders usually correct
any inaccuracies. The conference should
not move beyond the young persons story
until they have touched on:
•
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What happened on the day/night ofthe offence.
What they were thinking about.
Who has been affected by what
happened.
In what way people have been
affected.

Q u es tion s ma y b e ne e de d to he lp
prompt the young person to express what
has happened, e.g. “What had you been
doing?”, “What time was it?”, “What was
it liked to be picked up by the police?”.
Failure of the young person to provide
basic acknowled gement of what
happened and the harm caused is likely
to result in increasing the victim’s senseof indignation.
T h e u s e o f o p e n q u e s ti o n s, b a s ic
listening skills, and a limited amount ofparaphrasing and summarising can be
helpful in assisting the young person.
Silence can also be used.
Initially, when young offenders are
asked “Who was affected by you actions?”
they may not immediately acknowledge
the impact on all those who were affected.
The young person should be encouraged
to acknowledge the harm caused to thevictim, themselves and their family. The
impact of this harm will be reinforced as
the conference proceeds.
2. The victims story
O nce the young person has m oved
towards some form of acknowledgementof the impact of their offending (tacit as it
may be) it is appropriate to invite thevictim to speak.
Normally victims do not require thesame level of prompting as the young
offender. The purpose of this stage is not
for the victim to abuse or castigate theyoung person. If the young person has
already begun to accept some level of
responsibility for their actions, displays ofmoral indignation from the victim areless likely.
It is important that the victim andtheir supporters focus on the specificincident and how they were affected.
Generalisations a re not helpful and118TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
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q ui ck l y r e su lt in th e y o un g p e rs o n‘turning off’. Such generalisations can
include the victim blaming the young
person for other occasions when they
were victimised or blaming the young
person for all ‘youth crime’. When thishappens the coordinators refocus thed iscussion to the spe cific of fe nce inquestion.
After the victim has had the
oppo rtunity to tell their story,
coordinators usually ask them if there are
any questions relating to the facts of theoffence that they would like to ask theyoung person.
3. Victim support group
The victim supporters are next invited
to talk ab out w hat happened, how it
affected them and their friend or family
member who was victimised.
4. Young person’s family
After the victim’s support group has
spoken the family of the young person is
given the opportunity to talk about how
the offence has affected them and what
action they have taken in respect of theyoung person as a result of the offence.
Each family member should be given theopportunity to speak.
Once all participants have had theo p p o r tu n it y t o t e l l t h e i r s t o r y th ecoordinator will give the views of person
who were entitled but unable to attend,a nd a ny o ther i nf orm a t i on t ha t t h e
conference may need to reach an
agreement.
At this stage of the conference it isnormal for the discussion to become more
free flowing. Coordinators suggest thatthe general rule of thumb is — the lessint erven tion th e bett er. However,discussion should continue to focus on theincident and its affects. Some diversions

are a danger at this point. For example,
exchanges between the victim and theyo ung p ersons fa mily m ight beco me
aggressive and unhelpful: “If you had
control of your kids this wouldn’t have
happened”. If this is allowed to continue
the young person will become a detachedspectator of other peoples conflict, insteadof being encouraged to acce pt
responsibility for his/her own actions.
After everyone has had the opportunity
to discuss the offence and its impact thediscussion shifts from the past to thepresent. The object of this phase is tomark the changed perception of bothoffender and victim about the offence andeach other. It is usual at this phase to bemarked by family private deliberation
time. All other members of the conferencea re e xc lud e d f ro m th is ti m e u nle s s
specifically invited by the family. It is
common for the family to consider what
they have heard and what is needed torestore harmony with the victim andwithin their family.
D. Decisions, Recommendations and
Plans
When the family has completed there
private deliberations the conference getsback together. The focus at this stage isclearly on the future. The purpose is todevelop a fair and workable plan thatmeets participant’s needs for repairing
the harm done b y the young persons
actions. (It is more appropriate to frame
this stage in terms of working out how
the young p erson can m a ke am end s
rather than in terms of setting
punishment.)
To introduce this phrase the victim
may be asked a general question such as:“Having heard everything what would
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It is important that the victim and the
young person and their family negotiate
the outcome plan for themselves. The
police officer and lawyer (if they attend),
can provide feedback on whether or not
the decisions are in keeping with theprinciples and legal requirement of theAct.
The coordinator should also test thep r o p o s e d p l a n f o r w o r k a b i l i ty a n dfairness. The discussion must include
monitorin g of the agreemen t. Th e
agreement should be monitored by thepa rties, (fa mily and victim), but thevictim may not wish to have a role in this.
The coordinator records the conference
in detail, specifying exactly what has
be e n agr ee d , ro le s re sp on sibilitie s,
timeframes and action to be taken if theyoung person cannot, or does notcomplete the agreement.
All conference participants sign theagreement.
VII. POST FGC
After the conference the coordinator
distributes a copy of the agreement to all
the conference participants. A copy of theagreement is also sent to the police or
court, depending on which agent referred
the matter to the conference.
The persons identified in the plan
monitors it to ensure that the young
person complies with what was agreed,
and notifies the coordinator when thematter is completed. The coordinator willt he n fo rm a l ly a dv is e a l l c onf e renc e
participants and the referring agent —either the court or police.

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