What is Restorative Justice?

Restorative Justice gives a victim the chance to tell an offender about what affect their crime has had. When someone commits a crime they may not always think about the consequences of their actions on other people.

Restorative Justice also allows a victim to ask questions and get answers, and in some cases to receive an apology. In many cases, when someone is the victim of a crime they may think they’ve been targeted or blame themselves for what happened. By using Restorative Justice a victim can ask an offender many questions including ‘why me?’ and the answer they receive can sometimes make them feel a little better.  

Bringing an offender together with their victim can be a very powerful and emotional experience for all involved. Having to answer to a victim can help an offender to change their behaviour. Being allowed to challenge an offender can help a victim to truly understand what has happened to them, and in many cases to move on from the experience.

Not all cases use Restorative Justice but when it is used, it can be done in a number of ways like:

• Face to face discussions which are facilitated by professionals.
• Letters between offender and victim.
• Recorded tapes between offender and victim.

The use of Restorative Justice is also optional which means that if a victim doesn’t want to do it, they don’t have to.

You can find out more about Restorative Justice using the Home Office Archives. Or view our factsheet.