Restorative justice is a process to resolve the problems to the crime involving the parties to the crime and the community, along with the statutory agencies. This process of restorative justice provides an opportunity for all whether it be the victim, the offender or the community itself. The concept of restorative justice tries to resolve a conflict between the offender and the victim and helps in fulfilling the gap between them.
- One of the most important aims of the criminal law is to protect one’s personal right to life and personal liberty. Criminal act or crime infringes this right of a private person and it is the duty of the criminal justice system to prevent such criminal acts and to safeguard life and liberty of common people. The very basic requirement of the law is that it should work according to the nature of the society or demands of the community. The present legal system which represents the aspirations and social ambitions are administered to punish the wrongdoer as well as to reform the criminals but it fails to meet the demands of victims which is an important by-product of crime. Victims were continuously ignored, for a long time, by the police and the prosecution. Victims were merely a tool for the prosecution to help them in convicting the offender. Restorative justice is chiefly concerned with the concept of restoration i.e restoration of the victim, restoration of criminals and to restore the society of damage caused to it by the crime.
- Restorative justice in sexual abuses plays an important role as the victims in cases of the sexual abuses are generally unable to connect with the society. They suffer great trauma and go through a mental illness such depression, anxiety, etc. victims in cases of sexual abuses need community support and the process of restorative justice encourages the participation of community at large. The compensatory scheme under restorative justice system helps the victims to rebuild their confidence and also helps in removing fear to face the society. Restorative justice focuses on restoring things to its place as far as possible as they were before the crime. Victims are in much better conditions in comparison to the formal justice system as restorative justice system tends to confer certain rights on victims and emphasizes on the active participation of the victim in the proceedings.
- Cases of sexual abuses such as child sexual abuse which involves child as a party to the crime i.e crime victim must resort towards the restorative justice as they need more community participation and victim-centric approach. Apart from prosecution and punishment, the process of restorative justice can be considered in these cases as many victims may not be willing to take part in the prosecution, and many offenders may never be admitting guilt on their part. But where they do, and where it is safe to deliver, restorative justice can make a real difference, helping victims to put the crime behind and to move on easily for a better future.
- Restorative justice is a problem-solving approach to crime which involves parties to the crime and the community along with the statutory agencies. Restorative justice is a method of doing justice by restoring to the parties in the society, as far as possible, where they had been if the wrong had not been committed to the one party by other. Restorative justice is chiefly concerned with the concept of restoration i.e restoration of the victim, restoration of offender and restoration of the damage caused to the community as well.
Post By- Kuldeep Kumar Yadav
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