Restorative justice as a procedural revolution: Some lessons from the adversary system.

Source: (2013) In, David J. Cornwell, John Blad, and Martin Wright, eds., Civilising criminal justice: An international restorative justice agenda for penal reform. pp. 81-114.

In the 1990s it was common to see restorative justice in contrast to retributive justice. That dichotomy has somewhat broken down of late, and I suggest that the more meaningful comparison is a procedural one, contrasting restorative justice with the adversary criminal trial. Restorative justice, understood as a revolution in criminal procedure, can enable or lead to a re-ordering of our criminal justice objectives. Indeed, much of the appeal of restorative justice is that its strengths are the the weaknesses of the adversary system, and thus the two may be seen to complement each other. (excerpt)