RESTORATIVE JUSTICE: CHARACTERISTICS, WHEN IT IS USED, EXAMPLES - ARTE - 2025

The restorative justice is a model of justice is to give prominence to the victims in criminal proceedings, recognizing the ability of the parties to seek an alternative solution to the penal intervention. This model was born around the 70s of the 20th century.

The intention with which this model was born was to be a way of responding to the exclusion of victims in judicial processes, and seeking to achieve a more balanced process that does not leave victims out but does not eliminate the influence of the State.

The Maori people in New Zealand apply restorative justice.

According to this model, the role of the State would be limited to cases in which a solution could not be reached between the indicated parties. This model of justice differs from the model of retributive justice in that the latter considers the crime as an offense against the State and imposes penalties as retribution.

This means that in restorative justice the criminal act is not seen simply as an action against the norms, but as an act that causes harm to direct and indirect victims (for example, the community).

Definition

Reparative justice is a model of justice that emphasizes conflict situations that cause harm. It seeks to involve those involved in order to amend said damages in the most appropriate way and without stigmatizing consequences.

The main characteristics of reparative justice have to do with responsibility for the consequences of the conflict situation, the reparation of said damages, and the participation of those directly and indirectly involved in the conflict situation.

Restorative procedure

The restorative procedure is an inclusive procedure; that is, it includes all interested parties to find the solution. In addition, it seeks to establish dialogues that allow determining what the consequences of the conflict situation really were.

In this way, the parties can assume responsibilities, reparation of the damage caused by the conflict can be made and a commitment is established not to cause the damage again.

This procedure aims to speed up the procedure, try to reduce the associated costs and try to decompress the criminal justice system.

In another type of procedure known as post-sentence, the aim is that, even if a sanction has already been established, the parties have access to restorative mechanisms.

In many cases of post-sentence restorative justice, reparation agreements could be symbolic and aimed at the moral reparation of the victim.

Main features

For this type of justice to be given, a series of characteristics must be met:

- The people involved must be willing to participate in the restorative procedure on a voluntary basis.

- The meetings that take place as part of the process are confidential.

- Emphasis is placed on the interests of the people who were victims.

- Relevance is given to the fact that the damages are restored.

- Professionals are involved in intervention (for example, mediators).

Restorative programs

There are a number of restorative programs that are involved in restorative justice. Some of these are as follows:

- Mediation, where a mediator is used between the victim and the perpetrator (although they do not necessarily have to meet face to face) to reach a decision on the sanction and the way to resolve the conflict.

- Family and community conferences, which are based on a traditional New Zealand Aboriginal Maori model for conflict resolution. The cases are handled by a mediator and the community, friends and family of both parties are brought together to confront the perpetrator with the damage and decide the sanction.

- The sentences in circles, in which the parties and representatives of the judicial system (judge, prosecutor, etc.) participate, as well as the community and families. Through this, an agreement is reached on how to solve the conflict. This model comes from Canada.

There are many more programs, such as peace promoting circles, community boards and panels, reparative parole, among others.

Types of restorative sanctions

In restorative practices, an agreement will be reached on the type of sanction that will be carried out. These sanctions can be:

Restitution

Payment of a sum of money as compensation.

Community service

Work of the perpetrator for the benefit of the damaged community.

Repair

Includes compensation, rehabilitation, guarantee of non-repetition and satisfaction.

When it's used?

The procedures used for reparative justice will depend to a great extent on what each country has regulated as a system of alternative methods of justice.

Therefore, these processes will be applied in the first place, in the countries where it is contemplated as a method of justice.

What is essential is that there is an identifiable victim and perpetrator. Furthermore, the perpetrator must accept responsibility for her behavior. Next, both the perpetrator and the victim must voluntarily consent to submit the conflict to a restorative process.

The process that will follow will depend on the provisions of each country, according to the legal bases and what the parties are willing to do.

Colombian case

For example, in Colombia criminal mediation -as part of restorative justice- is a process established by a series of legal bases that specify how the process will be guided and what series of steps it will take:

Pre-meeting

Request for mediation, appointment of the mediator and acceptance by a judge.

Meeting

Facilitation between the parties, time of responsibility, time of compensation or repair and time of reintegration.

Closing

Act of commitment and post-mediation.

Real example of restorative justice

An example of a restorative program is the one used in Oxfordshire (England) applied to young offenders. This program seeks to redress the sentences of offenders.

On the one hand, victims have the option of meeting the perpetrator, or they can decide to choose from among several options for their perpetrator to participate. These options are agreed with a supervisor who has the role of mentor; In addition, restoration options must be visible to the community.

In this way they include them from a public newsletter and regular meetings to highlight the offender's achievements.

References

1. Battola, KE (Ed.). (2014). Restorative justice: new criminal proceedings. Córdoba: Alveroni Editions.
2. Bazemore, G. and CT Griffiths (1999). Conferences, Circles, Boards, and Mediations: Scouting Community Justice Decision Making the 'New Wave' of Approaches.
3. Jowitt, A. and Newton T. (2010). A Kind of Mending: Restorative Justice in the Pacific Islands. Anu Press.
4. Márquez Cardenas, AE (2007). Restorative justice versus retributive justice in the context of the prosecutorial system of accusatory tendency. Prolegomena, 10 (20), pp. 201-2012.
5. Muñiz, O. (2012). Criminal justice for adolescents: reparation. In HD Gil Alzate (Ed.), Conflict, mediation and memory: restorative justice and collective damage (pp. 85-99). Medellín: Remington University Corporation.
6. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2006). Manual on Restorative Justice Programs. New York: United Nations.
7. Wenzel, M., Okimoto, T., Feather, N., and Platow, M. (2008). Retributive and Restorative Justice. Law and Human Behavior, 32 (5), pp. 375-89.