Restorative Justice: Report of the Secretary-General

Source: (2002) Vienna, Austria: United Nations Economic and Social Council, Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.

Recently, restorative justice has received considerable attention by both practitioners and policy makers. It is viewed as an alternative approach to more common criminal justice practices. In addressing accountability and fairness to both offenders and victims in the justice process, it was agreed that the concepts of restorative justice should be fundamental. In 2000, more than 35 Member States, as well as government and non-governmental agencies and organizations were invited to offer their views and comments pursuant to the United Nations Economic and Social Council resolution 2001/14 regarding the establishment of common principles of restorative justice. This report, submitted to the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, presents those comments, in addition to comments on the advisability of developing an instrument on restorative justice and specific comments on the preliminary draft elements of a declaration of basic principles on the use of restorative justice in criminal justice. It is noted that not all respondents were supportive of the development of an international instrument with some cautious in regards to its application and operation. Restorative justice is seen as offering promising concepts and options if taken as a supplement to established criminal justice practices. In general, restorative justice would serve as a compliment to established justice systems and practices and not as a replacement for existing systems. [An Addendum, Report of the meeting of the Group of Experts on Restorative
Justice, is at www.unodc.org/pdf/crime/commissions/11comm/5add1e.pdf.] Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Service, www.ncjrs.org.