Community Justice Society

Vision Statement

To eliminate the involvement of youth in the criminal justice system.

The Community Justice Society

Mission Statement

To provide a community-based restorative justice process, offering meaningful ways to repair the harms caused by youth crime and restoring positive relationships among youth in conflict with the law, victims of youth crime, and our community. 

To foster and nurture restorative justice, the Society educates and advocates for community engagement in crime prevention and the building of positive relationships among all community members. 

Introduction
Thank you for visiting the Community Justice Society of Halifax/Dartmouth. We are a not for profit society that was established in 1999 to provide Restorative Justice Programming and services to the community of the Halifax Regional Municipality. Restorative Justice can trace its origins to customary legal and justice processes of First Nation communities in North America and New Zealand.  From a traditional perspective, members of the community oversee the administration of the healing process as a result of wrongdoing by individuals. Nova Scotia’s Restorative Justice Program is one of the most comprehensive programs of its kind in Canada and has received international recognition.

Our Approach
Restorative Justice is a value-based approach designed to respond to wrongdoing and conflict.  It has a balanced focus that includes the person harmed, the person causing the harm, and the affected community. By collectively identifying and addressing harm and developing a plan to hold a person accountable for their actions, the community can takes steps to help create a sense of healing within the community and make progress towards resolving the harm done.  Crime prevention can be supported through the social development of individuals and by developing programs and services.  Some of the programming currently offered by Community Justice Society includes:

• Stop Lift Program
• Knoggin Knowledge
• Drug Awareness

Restorative Justice models hold offenders accountable in a more meaningful way, repairing harm caused by the offence, reintegrating the offender into the community, and achieving a sense of healing for both the victim and the community when ever possible. 

Restorative Justice is not a replacement for the current system. A restorative approach will, however help to meet the needs that are not often met by the current system. Reducing recidivism, increasing victim satisfaction and public confidence in the system will take enormous effort over many years. 

As a society, Community Justice Society has also recognized the need to develop our capacity to respond in an early and proactive manner to the needs of persons at risk and their communities.  For us, this means that we must respond to the needs of individuals much earlier and before their involvement with the criminal justice system. 

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