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Quakers and Criminal Justice at the UN

Quakers have been involved internationally on criminal justice issues at two levels. One is European, through the Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA), registered as a non-governmental organisation at the Council of Europe, the other is world-wide through the recognition of the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) as a Non-Governmental Organisation at the United Nations.

Quakers have participated in UN Congresses on Criminal Justice and Crime Prevention since 1985. Several studies undertaken for the Quaker Council for European Affairs in the 1980s and 1990s have fed into and influenced UN criminal justice codes and guidelines. Areas of particular interest for Quakers internationally are mediation, community participation in justice, Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) workshops in prisons and the community, restorative justice, women prisoners, firearms control, life imprisonment and the death penalty.

Quaker delegations to the UN Congresses have been active participants, initiating ancillary meetings and workshops. In recent years Quakers have been particularly active in supporting and promoting work on restorative justice.

In 1990 the Congress established the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice to be the policy making body, giving future Congresses an advisory role. The Commission meets annually in Vienna, and FWCC attends regularly. FWCC is also a member of the International Scientific and Professional Advisory Council (ISPAC) to the UN Criminal Justice Programme, and representatives attend its annual meetings and conferences in Italy.

Roots of Quaker Interest in Criminal Justice

The strong Quaker involvement in social action stems directly from the belief in a Divine spark in all people: “that of God in everyone.” From this it follows naturally that all should be treated with respect and kindness. Quakers believe that religion should not be a retreat into otherworldliness, but rather putting principle into practice; thus Quakers historically have been social reformers on many fronts. They seek to relieve the suffering caused by unjust or inhumane conditions, and also to remove the causes of these conditions. Believing that it is wrong to use immoral or hurtful means to achieve worthwhile ends, Friends have traditionally opposed war in all its forms. They were among the first religious groups to oppose slavery and to promote universal suffrage.

Prison reform has always been important to Quakers. Many early Quakers were persecuted and imprisoned for their beliefs and so were witness to the dreadful conditions in prisons. Thus began a constant and active Quaker concern about the causes of crime and the treatment of criminals which persists to the present day. Quaker opposition to the death penalty, too, follows naturally from the belief in a Divine spark in all people.

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