Thinking Allowed - 16/09/2009

What is the best way to settle a dispute, and if you are a victim of crime what is the best way to get justice? Laurie Taylor finds out about an alternative to police and courts and the conventional criminal justice system. The idea of restorative justice is to try to find a new way to settle arguments and bring justice so that offenders and victims can carry on living side by side. Can bringing victims and culprits together to talk or making a guilty party compensate the injured one provide the answer? And can it work for all crimes, however serious? Laurie talks to Anna Eriksson and Heather Strang about the use of restorative justice in Northern Ireland. For countries with a long history of violence in their communities, can restorative justice be used to heal the wounds? Also in the programme, what lessons can we learn from history about how to live our lives? Laurie talks to Prof Fred Inglis about the life of philosopher Robin Collingwood and how we can live the good life by learning our lessons from the past.