Restorative Justice AO1

• what is restorative justice?

  • a method used to help both the victims of crime and the offenders reach some closure as part of their rehabilitation and recover
  • includes offender coming face-to-face with victims/family of victims, mediated by a trained professional
  • intended that offender will understand human consequences of their crime and the impact is has had on victim/victims families
  • if done properly, RJ can be crucial in offender's rehabilitation
  • provides opportunity for victim to express feelings about their experiences, helping them move on
• how is changing the emphasis a key point of RJ?

  • switch emphasis from needs of state (to enforce the law and punish) to the needs of the individual victim (to feel compensated in some way and come to terms with crime)
  • seeks to be a healing process - RJ is less about 'retribution' (punishing offender) and more about 'reparation' (repairing the harm they have caused)
• what are the two main areas RJ focuses on?

  • the victim (or survivor) of the crime and their recovery
  • the offender and their recovery/rehabilitation
• what are the key features of the RJ process?

  • trained mediator supervises
  • non-courtroom setting where offender voluntarily meet with victim
  • can be face-to-face or remote
  • survivor has opportunity to tell offender how incident affected them, offender can understand consequences of their actions and the emotional distress caused
  • important that their is active involvement on both sides
  • focus on positive outcomes for both
  • other relevant community members may have a role e.g. friends and family members
• how does sentencing work in RJ?

  • make take place pre-trial - and then can be taken into account during sentencing
  • could also take place alongside prison sentence or as an alternative prison (especially if offender is young)
  • can be an incentive to reduce length of sentence
  • may also involve offender giving monetary payment to survivor to reflect psychological damage caused or the actual physical damage, in case of break-in e.g.
• what is the Restorative Justice Council?

  • RJC is an independent body whose role is to establish clear standards for the use of RJ and to support survivors and specialist professionals in the field
  • RLC advocates beyond the use of RJ beyond crime and encourage its use in many areas including schools, workplaces and communities