Editorial: Justice can be elusive for victims

The Justice System often can never come close to producing a result that eases the pain and suffering of those who did not deserve what happened to them. Photo / Thinkstock

Even though it is guided by precedent and process, the judicial system by its very nature will never be satisfactory to those who demand or deserve justice.

Can even the harshest punishment ever truly fit the crime and can justice ever be absolutely just? Probably not.

Parents whose young child is killed will never get that child back no matter what sentence is imposed on the murderer. Likewise, the harm and heartache caused to the victims of indecent assault or rape will always be greater than the punishment imposed on the abuser.

This is only natural. The offender may be punished, but because the crime is so traumatic, the victims and/or their families are also punished, often for the rest of their lives. Life is unfair at times, and this is vividly illustrated in court far too often.

This does not mean that the justice system is wrong, just that it often can never come close to producing a result that eases the pain and suffering of those who did not deserve what happened to them. Even those victims who don't have vengeance in their heart and decide to forgive the offender, deserve some closure by seeing that person punished.

Take the case of Charles Harter, the former Havelock North Primary School teacher, who was yesterday sentenced in the High Court at Napier, to three years and four months for indecently assaulting female students.

The young girls he abused and their families face a long healing process and the school and community has rallied in support of them. We can only hope and pray they can get through this dark chapter in their young lives.

And hopefully the justice system lives up to its name and Harter remains in prison for the maximum period and that all steps are put in place thereafter to ensure that he is not able to ruin another young life.