Handbook on Restorative justice programmes

Restorative process
Definition: A restorative process 
is any process in which the victim
and the offender and, where
appropriate, any other individuals 
or community members affected 
by a crime participate together
actively in the resolution of matters
arising from the crime, generally
with the help of a facilitator.
4 
Faget, 2003, p. 39.
5 
Miers, 2001, p. 88.

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7
chapter 1
Restorative justice
For the purposes of this handbook, the term “restorative justice pro-
grammes” is given the same usage as found in the Basic Principles: “any
programme that uses restorative processes and seeks to achieve restorative
outcomes”. The emphasis in this definition is clearly on participatory
processes designed to achieve a desired outcome. A “restorative process”
is defined as “any process in which the victim and the offender, and,
where appropriate, any other individuals or community members affected
by a crime, participate together actively in the resolution of matters arising
from the crime, generally with the help of a facilitator”. Restorative justice
gives as much importance to the process as to the outcome. The individu-
als involved in this process are referred to as the “parties”. In Europe and
in many other parts of the world, the process is often referred to by means
of the technique that most models have in common, that is “mediation”
as distinct from legal adjudication.
6
According to the Basic Principles, a “restorative outcome” is an agreement
reached as a result of a restorative process. The agreement may include
referrals to programmes such as reparation, restitution and community
services, “aimed at meeting the individual and collective needs and
responsibilities of the parties and achieving the reintegration of the victim
and the offender”. It may also be combined with other measures in cases
involving serious offences.