Editorial comment
| Author | Jean Hine/Kevin Wong |
| Pages | 1-3 |
1
British Journal of Community Justice
©2021 Manchester Metropolitan University
ISSN 1475-0279
Vol. 17 (1) 1-4
EDITORIAL
Jean Hine and Kevin Wong
Making a restorative criminal justice system a reality
In the first i ssue of this journal Brian Williams (2003) raised the question of the “Meaning
of Community Justice” arguing that “there is a need for critical debate, because of the
widespread confusion and disagreement about both the meaning of the term and the
desirability of expanding the domain of community justice.” Over the years the Journal
has continued with this mission, one element of which has been the examination of the
potential for restorative practice to be applied to the criminal justice system. This issue
addresses that question directly.
Joining forces with the Criminal Justice Alliance – a coalition of over 160 organisations
committed to a fair and effective criminal justice system in England and Wales, working
across policing, prison and probation – we are pleased to publish this special issue on the
theme of Making a restorative criminal justice system a reality.
Restorative justice has become an umbrella term which can conflate a range of
approaches/issues: restorative justice as a formal component of a criminal justice system;
restorative approaches or practice as a means of resolving or managing conflict bet ween
individuals; offenders giving back to the community or victim in some way; and concern
for victims and their involvement in decision making processes in criminal justice
procedures. In this issue, our authors from the UK and internationally unpick some of
these issues, by examining: the challenges of translating restorative justice (RJ) i nto
practice; the discourse around whether RJ adequately (or not) addresses the needs of
victims as well as people with convictions; and the application of RJ to all offence types or
only certain offences.
We begin with a thought-provoking paper by Giuseppe Maglione who considers
restorative justice as a formal component of the criminal Justice system. He calls into
question the ability of any f ormal criminal justice system to deliver the basic tenet of
restorative justice - voluntarism. In a detailed consideration of RJ policy in three distinct
jurisdictions: England and Wales; Norway; and France, he argues that the values of RJ are
incompatible with penal policy which neutralises RJ’s promise. He concludes that “the
incorporation of restorative justice ( RJ) into p enal policy, as a stage in the wider
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