Restorative Justice
​Explained

"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.”

Restorative Justice:

• 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

Summarized in parts from The Little Book of Restorative Justice,
Howard Zehr (2002)