The Igbo Indigenous Justice System

Offenders are actively involved in the definition of harm and the search for resolution to the problem. Ample opportunities are provided to offenders to feel the impacts of their actions on the victim and the community. They are also persuaded to be accountable to the victim and the community for their actions. Offenders are made to appreciate the fact that their actions harm more than the individual victims, for they also harm the community. Offenders are made to realize that they are also harmed by their own actions. Igbo societies view themselves as collectives responsible for the well-being of all members of the community. This responsibility includes offenders who have contributed to the destabilization of the community through the imposition of harm. Offenders are held accountable for their actions and are persuaded to pay compensation to the victims. This approach is different from that of Western criminal justice processes, in which offenders pay compensation for their crimes to the state by serving time in prison or by paying fines.

In Igbo justice processes holding offenders accountable is not tantamount to punishing them. The goal of justice is to restore, as much as possible, victims to the positions they were in before victimization occurred. Compensation to the victim, according to Nsereko, goes beyond restitution. It also represents a form of apology and atonement by the offender to the victim and the community. Restitution to the victim is integral to the settlement of the disputes because of the understanding in the community that a victim whose needs are not addressed is a potential offender.

An offender's accountability includes restoring the victim to the position he or she was in prior to the offence, limited of course to the extent to which money or property can solve the problem. Offenders are further made to show remorse for their actions through apology and atonement to the victim and the community. The Igbo people believe that no offence is so serious that it cannot be atoned for with a commensurate sacrifice and reparation. It is generally believed in Igboland that human beings are inherently good, but may be driven to violate societal norms by evil forces or circumstances beyond their control. Conflict resolution therefore becomes an opportunity for the education, socialization, and resocialization of offenders, victims, and other community members. Conflict resolution becomes an opportunity to probe the underlying socioeconomic causes of the individual offender's actions.

Family members of offenders are held accountable for the actions of one of their own. They are either chastised or made to appreciate where they failed as parents or family members. In this inclusion of family also lies the distribution of responsibility necessary in properly addressing harm in a manner that will avoid future harms. The incident could not have occurred in an isolated context (because society is communitarian), and thus the solution cannot be found in isolation of responsibility. Where the offender is unable to pay restitution to the victim the family is held responsible. It is important to note that, in a system of justice that does not rely on revenge and harmful punishment to deal with conflict, the dispersion of responsibility is not problematic, as it is in a system of justice that chooses to hurt and violate those who have offended.

In holding the offender and his or her family responsible for the offender's actions strenuous effort is made not to sever the connection between the offender, the family, and other community members. The prevailing culture is such that the actions of the offender can be condemned while a message of love and respect is extended to the offender. The basis for this thinking is the belief in the community that justice-making is an opportunity to promote repair, reconciliation, and reassurance.

The mainstay of the people's economy is agriculture. Agrarian economy is labour-intensive, and as such no body is expendable. All efforts are made to reintegrate offenders into the community to remain productive members. Furthermore, violations indicate a failure of responsibility by the offender on the one hand and the community on the other. The reasoning is that it takes a village to raise a child. Community members also acknowledge and accept their responsibility for failing in raising a responsible and productive citizen. Justice-making therefore becomes an opportunity for the re-evaluation of community values, culture, and political, social, and economic conditions. Justice and fairness are enhanced as decision-makers become conscious of their own vulnerability, as they could be at the receiving end of justice in the future.