Domestic violence variously referred to as intimate partner violence, gender based violence or spouse abuse is a term by a largely used to refer to violence that one visits upon persons who are close to them. Such persons may include their spouses, children, in-laws or other close relations. Domestic violence is increasingly becoming an issue of national concern and the criminal justice system has sought various ways to stem the tide. The fundamental question that must be asked is whether the measures adopted by the criminal justice system are effective in resolving the sensitive and relatively emotive matter of domestic violence. This article takes the position that mediation, which is one of the ways of resolving domestic violence is perhaps the best way of handling matters of domestic violence. Indeed, mediation ought to be the principal means by which the criminal justice system resolves cases of domestic violence. The reasoning behind this is plain and simple; it is only in instances when domestic violence cases are resolved through mediation that one stands a higher chance of obtaining an outcome that is suitable to them whether they are the victim or the perpetrator, their children if any where the case involves children and ultimately the community at large.
Numerous arguments have been advanced in support of mediation as one of the ways of improving the criminal justice system. Before embarking on enumerating these arguments, it would be important to highlight the important fact that central to the whole concept of the criminal justice system is the word justice. Consequently, right from the very onset up to the penultimate stages of the criminal justice system, what the parties of whatever matter that is before the criminal justice system are interested in is justice. In light of this, the first argument advanced by proponents of mediation as a means of improving the criminal justice system is the fact that mediation increases the likelihood of obtaining justice from the criminal justice system.
In other words, mediation helps in ensuring that the criminal justice system yields a just outcome. Those who advance this argument have stated that mediation is more likely to lead to establishing the truth and thus lead to a fair outcome eventually as compared to other methods employed by the criminal justice system such as litigation. Indeed, in the adversarial systems of trial, one of the criticisms of litigation has been that it does not necessarily lead to a just or fair outcome as the final decision of a court which is one of the entities in a criminal justice system is almost exclusively influenced by the lawyers in the suit. In a nutshell, it is the lawyers who best present their evidence to the court who get their desired outcome from the court, the fairness or justness of such a decision is not central to such a system.
The second principal argument advanced by proponents of mediation as a way of improving the criminal justice system is that when compared with all the other methods of resolving disputes available in the criminal justice system, it is only mediation which leads to the best results for the larger society. This is because unlike the other methods available in the criminal justice system, mediation provides the offender with an opportunity to own up to his or her mistake and thus set in motion the process of reforming or rehabilitating such an individual. Indeed, the end product of an offender who goes through the criminal justice system should ideally be a reformed individual who can be handed back to the society with the full confidence that he or she will not engage in the heinous acts they had previously committed. Cases of domestic violence could be used illustratively to demonstrate how mediation helps to improve the criminal justice system. When a victim reports that their close relation has subjected them to some form of domestic violence, their usual desire is that the criminal justice system takes such steps and measures that will make the offender change his or her habits. However, such victims do not wish to see the offender incarcerated or subjected to some other forms of punishment; all the victims are seeking is reformation which is then succeeded by reconciliation. If the criminal justice system delivers any other result apart from this, then it will have failed in the eyes of the victim. Mediation thus comes in to cure this problem as it greatly improves the criminal justice system by making it more acceptable and even encouraging more citizens to bring their cases to the criminal justice system.
It is submitted that the arguments discussed above hold a lot of merit. These arguments are backed by a number of reasons and a brief discussion of the reasons follows. One, mediation helps the criminal justice system to achieve an outcome which will be acceptable to all parties. This is because in mediation, right from the very onset up to the culmination of the process, the concerns of the parties to the mediation are taken into account at every stage of the process. It must be remembered that participation and a sense of involvement go a long way in improving the dignity both of the offender and the perpetrator. It is also goes without saying that a greater degree of involvement in the mediation process creates a sense of ownership of the process by both parties in the mediation. By and large, the parties will be in a position to assert that the criminal justice system is respectful of them and takes their opinion seriously. Such acceptability is crucial for any justice system to function effectively.
Secondly, in cases of domestic violence, mediation as one of the methods of resolving domestic violence cases in the criminal justice system helps to attain reconciliation between the offender and the victim and this safeguards the family which is arguably the most important unit of any given society. Indeed, no one wants a criminal justice system that may leave children desolate and destitute simply because the methods it provides for handling domestic violence cases strictly demand for such measures as incarceration of the offender. We all want to see happy families and the criminal justice system should facilitate that whenever it is presented with an opportunity to do so.
There are various policies which support the above arguments. These include policies designed to reduce crime in the society generally. Additionally, the policies adopted by the government to ensure children grow up in proper homes where they have a mother and father present also support these arguments. Lastly, the above arguments are in line with the government policy of decongesting prisons as well the policies aimed at achieving the best possible results from the criminal justice system. After all is said and done, the criminal justice system itself is meant to serve the society and never should it be the other way round.
References
Andrew, W. J., & Ratner, S. (2008). Informal Reckonings: Conflict Resolution in Mediation, Restorative Justice and Reparations. London: Routledge-Cavendish.
Dammer, H. R., & Albanese, J. S. (2010). Comparative Criminal Justice Systems. Connecticut: Cengage Learning.
Neubauer, D. W., & Fradella, H. F. (2010). America's Courts and the Criminal Justice System. Connecticut: Cengage Learning.
Renske, S. M. (2009). Cnfidentiality and Victim-Offender Mediation. Brussels: Maklu.
Shipway, L. (2013). Domestic Violence: A Handbook for Healthcare Professionals. London: Routledge.
