Restorative justice for people who have caused harm
When you’ve done the wrong thing, you can’t go back in time and change what happened. But you can own your actions and acknowledge that you have caused harm.
Restorative justice gives you the chance to listen to and speak with the person or people you have harmed. This may not fix things. But it does give you a chance to do better by the person you have harmed, and to do better by yourself.
How restorative justice can help you
There are many good reasons to take part in restorative justice. Restorative justice can help you:
- feel better about yourself
- explain your reasons for what happened
- help the person harmed feel better
- tell people how you feel about things now
- take responsibility for what happened
- give the person harmed and other people who were hurt a chance to talk about it
- help to work out how to make things better for the people harmed by your actions (including yourself)
- make plans to ensure you don’t repeat the offending behaviour.
You can also read:
- our factsheet for persons responsible [PDF 357kB]
- a pamphlet for persons responsible [PDF 623kB]
- our Easy English booklet: I Harmed a Person [PDF 1.44MB]
Learn more about how restorative justice works on our webpage.
Video introduction to restorative justice
How does restorative justice work? Take a look to find out.
Being the victim of any crime can be a traumatic experience.
What's more, the criminal justice process can seem long, stressful and complicated.
Something that's both unfamiliar and daunting for you as the victim, and that can leave you feeling powerless and excluded.
Restorative justice can change this by giving you the opportunity to take an active part and create a process of justice that meets your needs.
It gives you a voice, a chance to take back control by giving you the opportunity to communicate with the offender, which could mean meeting them face to face and let them know the real impact of what they've done.
What's more, it really works, but when exactly do you get the chance for restorative justice?
Opportunities for it run like a thread through the whole justice system.
It just needs both parties to agree to it, for it to be safe and for the offender to be taking responsibility.
Then it can happen either alongside the justice process or as a part of it and take place at pre-charge, pre-sentence or post sentence.
You can set the ball in motion yourself by making an inquiry with the restorative justice unit, and there are various stages where it may also be offered to you depending on the seriousness of the crime.
For example, after an arrest, the police sometimes decide to deal with a less serious offense without going to court by using a variety of measures at their disposal. Restorative justice can be a part of this.
If this doesn't happen, your case may go to court.
If the offender then pleads guilty, the judge or magistrate can sometimes decide to refer a matter for restorative justice and in some cases defer sentencing to see whether any restorative justice conference and agreement is completed by the offender, or the completion of a restorative justice agreement could be made a condition of a good behaviour order.
Sometimes the offender may be sent to prison instead, and restorative justice can take place while they are inside.
Finally, it can also happen after an offender leaves prison while they're on parole.
Even if you were a victim years ago, you can still benefit.
Remember, you can contact the restorative justice unit to find out how you can access restorative justice.
When it does take place, it will be delivered by a trained facilitator who will support you through the process.
Restorative justice is a real opportunity for you to have your say.
It includes you in the justice process, helps you stop being a victim and to move on and pull all the strains of your life back together.
What you should know before you decide to do restorative justice
There are some things you should know if you are considering restorative justice:
- You don’t have to do restorative justice if you don’t want to. You can decide not to participate at any time.
- The Court may take your participation in restorative justice into consideration when sentencing. You should seek legal advice before deciding to participate.
- Accepting responsibility for the purpose of restorative justice does not mean you have to plead guilty in court for a summary offence.
- You don’t have to sign an agreement.
How restorative justice can impact sentencing
If you go to court for sentencing after doing restorative justice, the court may take your participation in restorative justice into consideration when sentencing.
The court may reduce your sentence because of this, but it is not required to do so.
If you decide not to take part in restorative justice or you stop participating once the process has started, the court must not consider this when sentencing you.