What is Restorative Justice?

If you have been a victim of crime, you might feel hurt and confused.

While crime does involve the breaking of laws, restorative justice focuses on the breaking of relationships within a community and how this breakage can impact the lives of many people on many levels. Restorative Justice gives people who have been harmed the chance to talk about the impact of the incident and seek answers about why it happened in a face-to-face meeting, via video, or through letters.

Victims of crime often feel excluded, confused, and revictimized by the criminal justice process. Restorative Justice brings them back to the heart of the discussion and allows them to have their voices heard – to detail the impact the crime had on them, and to seek answers to questions they have.