Overview
Participatory justice can refer to the use of alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation, conciliation, and arbitration, in criminal and civil courts, instead of, or before, going to court.[2][11] It is sometimes called "community dispute resolution".[12] NGOs (Non-governmental organizations) may get involved in the administration of criminal justice.[12][13] According to the National Advisory Commission of Criminal Justice Standards and Goals, delays in sentencing and lack of protection of rights of the accused contribute to attitudes of legal cynicism.[2] According to a large cohort of citizens, the guilty are freed while the innocent, and often the black and poor, are harassed.[2] The participatory justice model, in turn, attempts to restore public confidence in the legal system.
Whereas the adversarial and disposition system is often slow-functioning, expensive, and inconsistent, the participatory justice model is a cheap and efficient way of resolution-making.[2][12] Rather than rely on expensive attorneys and expert witnesses, the model relies on volunteers from the community, who are trained in mediation and counseling techniques.[2] The resolution is often achieved quicker, because, by reaching a consent agreement implemented by all parties involved, there is no possibility of re-litigation.[2] In the participatory justice model, cooperation is valued instead of competition and reconciliation instead of winner-take-all. The need to protect the public and to respect the rights of ordinary citizens to a free but secure society are considered.[2] This in turn helps preserve positive relationships between the parties involved.[12] In modern-day Canada, for instance, community members are involved in almost every step of the judicial process, even before people are arrested and sent to court; community organizations establish working partnerships with police to focus attention on growing social problems, like child abandonment or housing code violations, and prevent crime.[9]
Not only does the participatory justice model promote inclusion, according to several authors, but also socioeconomic equality. The adversarial/dispositional system requires enforcing laws that often represent the will of those with the most educational and monetary resources.[2] As Stephens points out, most people who are perpetrators in a particular incident, whether civil or criminal, had also been victims at some point, so every person's circumstances should be taken into consideration.[2] Stahn mentions the importance of consulting victims at the reparation stage to determine whether they really believe the person who committed the crime against them is deserving of incarceration.[14] Once used primarily in Scandinavia, Asia, and Africa, participatory justice has been "exported" to the United States.[15][16]
Finally, participatory justice serves as a crucial check on state power, that legitimizes the rule of law itself. As long as citizens believe in their ability to contribute to the law making and evaluation process, public consensus supports the rule of law.[2][8] Without consensus, the government must rely on the letter of the law and threat of prosecution to maintain order; the government might resort to censorship and surveillance.[8] The law becomes "instead of a vehicle of justice, the instrument of a bureaucratic, institutionalized, dehumanized government."[8] Therefore, by reducing legal cynicism in communities, participatory justice effectively decreases the likelihood that the state will respond to this cynicism through use of overly punitive justice.[8]
Once used primarily in Scandinavia, Asia, and Africa, participatory justice has been "exported" to the United States and Canada.[3][6][7][17] It is used in a variety of cases, including between "Landlords and Tenants, Neighbours, Parents and Children, Families and Schools, Consumers and Merchants ... [and] victims of crime and offenders."[12] For war-torn countries, participatory justice can promote coexistence and reconciliation, through an emphasis on universal participation.[2][14]
An online and self-financed form of participatory justice, called the crowdjury system, has been promoted as an improved way of managing trials in the future.[5] Witnesses to a crime can upload evidence online into a secure vault.[5] Data can then be organized into useful knowledge by groups of 9 to 12 self-selected volunteers with expertise.[5] If a defendant pleads guilty, they can propose a form of restoration, as a way to avoid harsher punishment; if they do not plead, an online trial will be held with a massive randomly-selected jury.[5] Participants in the evidence review process will receive monetary compensation through Bitcoin or alt coin. According to crowdjury's proponents, this will help the government cut costs and create a more transparent judicial process.[5]