The Proper Guidelines on Restorative Conflict Resolution for Community Justice in Municipal Areas in Thailand

Abstract

Although the Ministry of Justice and related agencies have continuously driven community justice according to the restorative conflict resolution approach in Thailand, it was unpopular in urban areas. Most city residents still rely on the criminal justice system to manage conflicts. This research focused on investigating the operational gaps in implementing restorative conflict resolution within community justice in urban areas. The aim was to propose appropriate approaches to minimize these gaps and enhance conflict management in municipalities/metropolitan areas of Thailand. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and connoisseurship. The findings revealed that the gaps in operations in urban areas include a lack of publicity,        no law requiring the parties to attend arbitration proceedings, a lack of a standard for implementation and follow-up of mediation, a lack of guidelines for driving community justice in urban areas, a lack of a plan to build and expand the urban mediation network, and inadequate staffing and budgeting for raising operational standards. On the basis of these gaps, this study suggests appropriate approaches for minimizing these gaps, including creating an efficient and speedy system for services, establishing regulations for disputing parties to enter the mediation process, enhancing the communication strategy to reach the desired demographics in cities, developing a standard evaluation template and seeking partnerships to access financial aid and supplies. In addition, this study offers proper guidelines for restorative conflict resolution for community justice in urban areas, including creating a standard operating procedure and standardized mediation process flow, developing a convenient platform to encourage people to enter the mediation process, reducing the number of documents, encouraging urban residents to participate in the selection of a qualified individual to be listed as a mediator, developing a curriculum to enhance dispute resolution skills for mediators, developing a platform for following up on a conflict settlement agreement, and developing a data storage system, operating statistics, and lessons learned. These guidelines were confirmed by experts from the involved sectors.