8. restorative justice

define restorative justice

• a system for dealing with criminal behaviour which focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders though reconciliation with victims

• this enables the offender to see the impact of their crime and serves to empower victims by giving them a “voice”

outline the restorative justice process

• a supervised meeting between the two parties is organised - attended by a trained mediator - in which the victim is given the opportunity confront the offender and explain how the incident affected them

• similarly, the offender is able to see the consequence of their actions including the emotional distress it caused

• this is seen as an important part of the rehabilitation process

what are the key features of the process

• focus on acceptance of responsibility and positive change for people who harm others; less emphasis on punishment

• not restricted to courtrooms - those responsible for harm may voluntarily choose to meet face to face in a non court room

• active rather than passive involvement of all parties in the process

variation of the process

• not all of the involve face to face encounters

• occasionally the offender may make some financial restitution to the victim which may reflect the psychological damage done or physical damage

• other instances involve the offender repairing damaged property themselves

what is RJC

• the restorative justice council

• an independent body whose role is to establish clear standards for the use of restorative justice and to support victims and specialist professionals in the field