RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
Founded in 1998, CRJI aspires to build a tolerant,
responsive, and inclusive community by providing
restorative justice services to local areas.
KEY PRINCIPLES
Restorative approaches contrast from prevailing retributive philosophies, which focus on punishment, and are instead based on the belief that justice should focus on repairing harm and that those who are most affected by the harm should participate in developing solutions. To that end, restorative justice seeks to empower victims, offenders, and communities in processes where they strive to resolve and repair the damage inflicted by harm. Restorative justice can manifest in a variety of models, including victim-offender mediation, family group conferencing, sentencing circles, as well as a range of other formats.
Restorative justice promotes the principles of respect, equality, accountability, inclusion, and reintegration. It also emphasises the voluntary participation of the affected parties.
To learn more about restorative justice, visit our resources page here.
THE BENEFITS
Restorative justice processes typically garner high approval and satisfaction ratings from participants—including both victims and offenders. In fact, participants are generally more satisfied by restorative processes than by traditional criminal justice proceedings.
Restorative justice has also been found to reduce repeat offending, producing lower recidivism rates than the criminal justice system, all while being less costly than prevailing systems.
Finally, restorative justice empowers local communities and individuals with the skills and ability to handle conflict—building peace from the bottom up.