Restorative justice clogging up courts and causing big delays

Under a December 1st law change, all cases that result in a guilty plea, and where there is an identifiable victim must be adjourned and referred to restorative justice. Lawyers and judges say this is clogging up courts, which now have to deal with double the number of appearances in such cases. The problem is particularly bad in Cantebury, where The Law Society says Restorative Justice Services is so under resourced that every week it falls another 6 weeks behind. Allister Davis, South Island vice president for the law Society.