What is Restorative Justice?

Restorative justice is a structured process that invites all persons involved in a crime or conflict to have an equal voice in repairing all harms of the incident to the greatest extent possible.

Restorative Justice: A Definition --- Tony Marshall

“Restorative justice is a process whereby the parties with a stake in a particular offense come together to resolve collectively how to deal with the aftermath of the offense and its implications for the future.”

Restorative Justice Principles --- National Institute of Corrections

• Crime is an offense against human relationships.
• Victims and the community are central to justice processes.
• The first priority of justice processes is to assist victims.
• The second priority is to restore the community to the degree possible.
• The offender has personal responsibility to victims and to the community for crimes committed.
• Stakeholders share responsibilities for restorative justice through partnerships for action.
• The offender will develop improved competency and understanding as a result of the restorative justice experience.

Core Principles of Restorative Justice --- Daniel Van Ness

• Justice requires that we work to heal victims, communities, and offenders who have been injured by crime.
• Victims, communities and offenders should have opportunities for active involvement in the justice process as early and as fully as possible.
• We must re-think the relative roles and responsibilities of the government and the community. Government is responsible for preserving a just order and the community for establishing a just peace.

Three Questions For Restorative Justice --- Howard Zehr

In the conventional criminal justice system approach, when a crime is committed, three questions are typically asked:

1. Who did it?
2. What laws were broken?
3. How will we punish the offender?

Howard Zehr has proposed that if we are to shift to a restorative way of thinking, three rather different questions should be asked when a crime is committed:

1. What is the harm?
2. What needs to be done to repair the harm?
3. Who is responsible for this repair?

Click on the Learn More link above to read publications and articles on restorative justice. Articles, links etc.

How does it work?
VICTIMS
With their support people
& 
VOLUNTEER COMMUNITY MEMBERS
&
OFFENDERS
With their support people
Come together - Sit in a circle
Guided by
TRAINED FACILITATORS to participate in a 3 Step process

1. Offender(s) tell what he/she did and why
2. Victim(s) and other participants tell how they were affected by what happened
3. Together, create a plan to repair the harm

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