NCJ Number
198130
Date Published
1999
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This paper reviews the origins of restorative justice and the development of its implementation in Europe, with attention to the yoking of concerns for the victim and the offender in the practice of offender-victim mediation.
Abstract
The author first describes the early development of the concept of restorative justice in the form of victim-offender mediation in Canada and the United States. This involves the resolution of conflicts through face-to-face negotiation between victims and offenders guided by mediators for the purpose of repairing the harm done to the victim and helping the offender to modify his or her criminal behavior. Examples are then provided of the manifestations of restorative justice concepts in Europe in countries that have done it without changing their law (England and Wales), have modified their law to facilitate victim-offender mediation (Germany and Spain), or have incorporated such mediation into juvenile law (Austria). This paper then considers the rebirth of restorative justice practices in countries that are members of the British Old Commonwealth, i.e., New Zealand, Australia, and Canada. The paper concludes with a summary of the features of restorative justice, notably an emphasis on healing for the victim and rehabilitation for the offender; some partially restorative measures; ways of promoting restorative justice; and conditions that should be met if restorative justice is to fulfill its promise. 48 footnotes