Mirror Sites:
CSUDH - Habermas - UWP - Archives

California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Soka University Japan - Transcend Art and Peace
Created: July 26, 2003
Latest Update: July 26, 2003
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu

Restorative Justice Implemented in the United Kingdom

Site Copyright: Jeanne Curran and Susan R. Takata and Individual Authors, July 2003.
"Fair use" encouraged.

The Home Office: Saturday, 26 July 2003.

Restorative Justice

Restorative justice provides an opportunity for victims, offenders and sometimes representatives of the community to discuss an offence and how to repair the harm caused. This can lead to the offender making reparation - either to the victim, if the victims wishes, or the wider community, for example by repairing property, cleaning premises and removing graffiti. A restorative process can take place in a number of ways, including:

• Victim-offender mediation - where the two parties meet face to face, facilitated by a mediator, but without other participants.
• Restorative conferencing - where victim and offender, with their families/supporters and sometimes members of the community meet. Family Group Conferencing is similar but this process gives the family and offender time to discuss the way forward, separate from the main meeting.
• Indirect mediation - contact where an offender and victim do not come face to face, but communicate through a mediator.

The Government supports restorative justice because it can help victims, putting them at the centre of the justice process and can reduce re-offending, as well as meeting a range of other objectives. For victims, research suggests that at least 75% of those who take part are glad they did so. The process allows victims to impress upon the offender the real impact of their actions and receive an explanation.

Restorative processes can reduce re-offending by holding the offender to account, so they take real responsibility for what they have done and also identify interventions that will help them stop offending.

Restorative justice is widely used in other countries, and has been developing in the UK from local initiatives and since 1998 through reforms to the youth justice system. The Government's strategy aims to build on these developments by maximising the use of restorative justice in the Criminal Justice System, and where there are gaps in our knowledge, carry out further research and policy development.

The Restorative Justice Strategy as It Is to Be Implemented is available in pdf file format.