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Making a Case for Incorporating Victim–Offender Mediation into the Criminal Justice System of Trinidad and Tobago

Document Cited in Related
Published date01 April 2024
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1177/25166069241245768
AuthorGillian Scotland
Date01 April 2024
Making a Case for
Incorporating Victim–
Offender Mediation
into the Criminal
Justice System of
Trinidad and Tobago
Gillian Scotland1
Abstract
The Criminal Procedure Rules were implemented in 2016 by virtue of Legal
Notice No. 55/2016 with an emphasis on the disposition of and dealing with mat-
ters ‘justly’. This ambitious objective cannot be accomplished by solely adher-
ing to the legal framework that currently governs the criminal justice system.
Restorative justice has been seen as an opportunity and an approach for victims
and other stakeholders of crime to deal with the same. At the forefront of such
approaches is victim–offender mediation, which can be utilized for both juvenile
and adult offenders. Inclusion of such a process as part of the criminal justice
system of Trinidad and Tobago would assist in realizing the objectives envisioned
by the Criminal Procedure Rules.
Introduction
Crime in Trinidad and Tobago is a critical issue for many citizens. It has changed
the manner in which people conduct their daily lives. The fear of being a victim is
real. The 2015 Crime Victimization and Fear of Crime Survey Report revealed
that 44% of the participants were afraid of being a victim of crime.2 What was
interesting is that persons who expressed no such fear indicated that they took
Original Article
1 Attorney-at-Law and Judge of the High Court of Trinidad and Tobago, Port of Spain, Trinidad and
Tobago
2. The Fear of Crime, UWI Today, https://sta.uwi.edu/uwitoday/archive/may_2015/article7. asp
(last visited Oct. 25, 2022).
Corresponding author:
Gillian Scotland, Attorney-at-Law and Judge of the High Court of Trinidad and Tobago, Port of
Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
E-mail: gscotland100@gmail.com
Journal of Victimology
and Victim Justice
7(1) 7–18, 2024
2024 National Law
University Delhi
Article reuse guidelines:
in.sagepub.com/journals-permissions-india
DOI: 10.1177/25166069241245768
journals.sagepub.com/home/vvj

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