Restorative Justice: Background, Meanings And Differences With Criminal Justice

Source: (2005) Bogota: Justicia Restaurativa en Colombia.

The traditional notion of justice – “to give each person what belongs to him or her” – is apparently unrelated to the novel concept of Restorative Justice, which has been implemented for over 20 years and is base don indigenous traditions, in particular those of North America and New Zealand, which establish mechanisms for the reparation of damages by way of the discussion of the crime and the interaction between the delinquent, the victim and society. In this sense, the fact of allowing the discussion and analysis of the crime and of the damage it causes “grants” all the parties related to the criminal act the possibility to solve their controversies to understand the origin of the crime from the human standpoint, and to prevent the commission of future crimes by way of dialogue and analysis. It is clear that everyone is getting what belongs to them: a conviction for the perpetrator, and his re-socialization as a human being; the confrontation of the damage for the victim; and the rationalization of the preventive conduct for society. (excerpt)