Origin
To get a better understanding of why RJ is used and what its origins are, we want to take you into a brief history of RJ. Please read the following document and watch the videos below.
Origin
Restorative justice (RJ) emerged in the 1970s as an alternative approach to the conventional criminal justice systems. However, most of the values, principles and practices of RJ can be traced back to the indigenous cultures. Still in some cultures crimes and family problems are settled by the community. RJ is a way of responding to crime and is in many ways different than the retributive justice system. RJ is about restoring harm whereas the retributive system focusses on punitive measures.
In a retributive justice system, crimes are considered as acts against society, not just against individual victims. Conventional justice focus on punishment, deterrence, denunciation, retribution, and community safety for breaches of the law. Punishments are unilaterly imposed by courts. The offender deserves to be punished and, for justice to be reestablished, has to be punished in proportion to the severity of the wrongdoing. The victim is mostly ignored during these conventional trials and their needs are often not met by the criminal justice system. In a response to these invisible victims, the victims’ rights movement emerged in the 1970s. This movement argued for greater involvement of victims in the criminal justice procedure. Today’s RJ movement started during these years as well. Its origin is generally located in Ontario (Canada) in 1974. Two young men pleaded guilty on vandalizing houses and cars. The probation officer arranged a meeting between the offenders and the victims to deal with the wrongdoing and discuss ways to repair the crime. This event is seen as the first recognized case of RJ and is seen as the start of victim-offender-mediation.
Definition restorative justice
The UNODC has developed the following definition of RJ:
“A restorative process is any process in which the victim and the offender and, where appropriate, any other individuals or community members affected by a crime participate together actively in the resolution of matters arising from the crime, generally with the help of a facilitator.”