an approach to crime and conflict, which has its roots in Indigenous and other cultures worldwide.

Many people associate restorative justice with mediation, or circle processes, or diversion programs. These can all be ways of achieving restorative justice (RJ), but they are tools for it, they aren’t RJ itself. Restorative Justice is a broad term, which has been used in many different ways. It is often defined in opposition to the current court system, which would be defined as retributive since it focuses on establishing what rule or law has been broken, who is responsible, and what punishment is merited. 

By contract, RJ views crime and conflict as a violation of people and relationships. The definition used by RJAM is: 

Restorative Justices is an approach to crime and conflict, which has its roots in Indigenous and other cultures worldwide. RJ involves those who have been harmed, those who have done harm, and the affected community in a search for outcomes, which promote accountability, reconciliation and reassurance. RJ is not a specific model, instead it is a set of principles that can be adapted and applied to a variety of situations. More specifically, restorative justice: 

• Focuses on harms and the needs of all those affected by crime or conflict, including the community
• Addresses obligations resulting from those harms
• Uses collaborative processes
• Invites voluntary participation by those with a stake in a situation
• Emphasizes healing as it seeks to repair harms and put right the wrongs to as full an extent as possible. 

References

Zehr, H. (2015). Changing Lenses: Restorative Justice for Our Times.