29th April 2022
The SCCJR is pleased to present the next in our Friday seminar series in which Dr Mark Hamilton will discuss ‘Restorative Conferencing in an Environmental Offending Context.’
Abstract:
Environmental offending can impact many aspects of our lives; the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the land we live upon. Such offending can encompass pollution (to air, land and water), development without consent such as the clearing of trees and bushland, and destruction of Aboriginal cultural heritage. This offending can result in a diversity of victims – individuals (both currently living and future generations), communities (both Indigenous and non-Indigenous) and the environment (flora (plants) and fauna (animals)), and be caused by activities of individuals, corporations and government entities. Restorative justice, in the form of conferencing, shows promise in bringing together the affected stakeholders of environmental offending to repair the harm occasioned by that offending. In doing so it helps achieve justice as meaningful involvement, comprising recognition (acknowledgment of the harmful effects of environmental offending), participation (of relevant participants in the process used to deal with environmental offending), and capability (the ability of those harmed by environmental offending to retain (or have restored) that which is essential to their/its functioning.
This seminar will draw from Mark Hamilton’s PhD and subsequent monograph to outline the use and potential of restorative justice conferencing in the context of environmental offending, namely the key features, outcomes, benefits and limitations, and potential future applications.
Bio:
Dr Mark Hamilton is currently a lecturer in the Thomas More Law School at the Australian Catholic University. His latest book ‘Environmental Crime and Restorative Justice: Justice as Meaningful Involvement’ was published in March 2021
Twitter: @MhamPHD1974