Restorative justice: policy and practice framework
Guidance on the practice of restorative justice (RJ) in Scotland in relation to adults and children. It sets out minimum standards and expectations against which RJ practice can be benchmarked, monitored and evaluated to ensure consistent delivery in line with RJ principles.
4. Objectives of restorative justice
4.1 The overarching aim of RJ is to offer a mechanism for people harmed to experience a trauma-informed and responsive approach to addressing needs brought about by the harm and its often-long-lasting impact. This is achieved through safe, person-centred, evidence-led and high-quality RJ services which can meet the needs of all parties to RJ, supporting their recovery and improving wellbeing.
4.2 RJ has many benefits for those who experience it and wider society. These may include but are not limited to the following:
- Holding a person who has caused harm accountable for suffering and injustice
- Providing an opportunity to ask questions and to understand why harm was experienced
- Restoring power to the person harmed, reducing feelings of isolation and promoting a sense of personal safety
- Creating stronger and more resilient communities
- Offering a flexible, creative approach to processes and accommodations needed to meet the varying coping preferences of different children, according to their age and needs
- Reducing post-traumatic stress and improving health and wellbeing outcomes for those who experience harm
- Better supporting the recovery needs of people who have experienced harm and trauma through taking a full account of such needs and circumstances and offering safety, choice and collaboration. For a person who has caused harm to understand the impact of this and to express remorse
- Reducing further offending and supporting reintegration for people who cause harm
- Improving satisfaction and feelings of fairness in criminal and community justice, and relationships between children and young people and justice services
4.3 Objectives set by those who experience harm and those who are responsible for harm in any RJ process are deeply personal and can often develop throughout the exploration of RJ. Time and space should be made for this by RJ facilitators. Where it is not possible for personal outcomes to be met within the process, both parties should be informed of this and be offered the choice in whether they wish to continue with the RJ process or otherwise.
Contact
Email: restorative.justice@gov.scot