Unpacking justice
AROUND 50 people working in social work, criminal justice and the voluntary sector gathered in Lerwick’s Sound Hall on Thursday to ‘unpack’ the thorny and complex issue of justice.
The day-long Unpacking Justice event, organised by the community mediation team and chaired by council convener Malcolm Bell, brought together four speakers covering very different aspects of the theme.
Shetland College lecturer Karen Manson kicked the day off with an overview of criminal justice across the world and through the centuries and stressed the importance of learning from different systems.
Northern isles MP Alistair Carmichael, himself a lawyer, then spoke about the different meanings of fairness and justice, and relationship between the justice system to the political process.
Next up was Hans J Marter from Shetland News who gave an insight into the day-to-day issues of local court reporting and stressed the role of the court reporter in making sure that justice is seen to be done.
Scottish Prison Service chief executive Colin McConnell rounded off the morning session, explaining how the prison service is changing direction and is now focusing on community re-integration to reduce re-offending.
The afternoon was split into a number of workshops to allow some of the aspects raised during the morning to be discussed in more detail.
Following the seminar, Malcolm Bell said he felt the day had been even more productive than the two previous Unpacking events (Apology and Forgiveness) held last year and the year before.
“We all came here today with different ideas about what justice was and I think we are all going away with some of our questions answered and some minds changed,” he said.
“It answered some very deep and fundamental questions.
“We heard some very good quality speakers with some quite surprising perspectives.
“The chief executive of Scottish Prison Service, for example, came with some very surprising views on how to tackle injustice in society, and that was very refreshing.”
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Organiser Alyson Halcrow added: “What became clear is that people are interested in the whole suite of aspects of justice, and that not enough is being done to discuss it.”
She and her team are already at the early stages of planning the next Unpacking event, which could be held next spring.
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