Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall said the government would be tabling the Restorative Justice Bill on Thursday. He was at the time delivering remarks at the recently concluded National Toshao Council (NTC) Conference.
Restorative justice is a new concept, which the government is introducing in the legal system to find out the contributing factors that led to the commission of a crime, Nandlall said.
There are many instances where persons who are released from prison recommit the crime and continue the cycle as the years go by.
Nandall explained, “The reason being, no one is going to the root to find out why the girl or boy is committing this crime. Is it that he/she is going home to an environment that forces him/her to go back to that crime? And it is believed that in many cases that is the root cause and once we find that root cause and we pull it out then hopefully we break that cycle of in and out of prison.”
Nandlall emphasised the importance communities must play in the concept of restorative justice.
In 2021, a number of Toshaos were trained in restorative justice; however, the majority of the newly elected Toshaos present at the NTC indicated they did not receive this training.
“We have to train all of you, even if you have been trained, we will train you again and you will be going through a special training, a training for trainers, so that when you go back into your community, you can train persons within your community in restorative justice and that is how the system works,” the AG stated.
They will receive assistance from the Ministry of Human Service and Social Security, Probation Department and the Ministry of Legal Affairs.
Training will commence after the bill is passed in the National Assembly and Nandlall revealed that sometime in the future they would be paid for their service.
“Not in the near future, once we establish the structure then you may even receive remuneration for this service so you’ll get another source of income,” Minister Nandlall added.
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