Restorative Justice Explained

• Restoritive Justice Is...
  RESTORATIVE JUSTICE IS: "Restorative Justice is a process to involve, to the extent possible, those who have a stake in a specific offense to collectively identify and address harms, needs, obligations, in order to heal and put things as right as possible."

  • Is concerned about needs and roles
  • Expands the circle of stakeholders
  • Provides an opportunity for real information
  • Facilitates truth telling
  • Empowers those that have been harmed with the ability to identify their own needs
  • Provides a way for those that have caused harm to be accountable
  • Encourages personal transformation
  • Support those who have harmed for integration into the community
  • Gives attention to the community's need for justice
  • Creates opportunities for building a sense of community and mutual accountability
  • Fosters the conditions that promote healthy communities

  Restorative Justice:

  • is not primarily about forgiveness or reconciliation
  • is not necessarily imply return to past circumstances
  • is not mediation
  • is not primarily designed to reduce recidivism or repeat offenses
  • is not a particular program or a blueprint
  • is not limited to "minor" offenses or first-time offenders
  • is not a new or North American development
  • is neither a panacea nor necessarily a replacement for the legal system