yeh...
maybe if you can find it, there was an article in the smh about circle sentencing courts.
as stuff mentioned, you have the aboriginal offender, a couple of aboriginal elders, a magistate and the family and friends of the victim and the offender-those who will be affected by the case...
the good things about circle sentencing courts?-->
*the offender is in an environment where he/she will be judged by his own community. like, for many aboriginal offenders, the sentences they recieve may not have much effect for those who have placed these sentences on them arent that important to them(i dont thinkim explaining this very well)
eg. if you do something wrong, it will have a much more personal effect on you, if you were told to you face by for instance, your mother, how ashamed and disappointed she was at you, than if you heard it from a complete stranger.
*not only does the victim get a say in what he/she wants in compensation, but the victim is able to feel as though what he has to pay is within his ability.
some bad things---->
*exactly how effective is it? it is still-from last time i checked on it- a fairly new procedure, so the effetiveness of these methods is still up for questioning..which also brings in ...
*geograpgical factors. i think in the article i used, 13 out of 14? or was it 11 out of 12?... of the cases resolved using circle sentencing courts saw that the offenders did not commit any more crimes. and the one cases which did not seem to work was for the offender was outside the nowra community-where the circle sentencing ourts were held.
this also questions its effectiveness due to location. therefore, these circle sentencing courts seem to work for the sense of community environment, however, this is limited to the area within the community..
.........
these are just some of the main points i got and ive just written from the top of my head.. im pretty sure once youve read the articles and done your research, you'll find heaps more... and word it much much better than i have!
hope it helps....and it made sense lol.