Gavrielides, T. (2021). Comparative Restorative Justice. New York: Springer.
Book aims
Restorative justice was reborn in the 1970s as a reaction to the current criminal justice system’s failures. It has now taken considerable dimensions in research, policy and practice internationally. While some countries adopt restorative justice through the legal system and legislation, others have found it difficult to pull its practices out of the shadows. Restorative practices have also been criticised for being inconsistent, unevaluated and over-rated. The reasons behind the inconsistent application of restorative justice as well as what makes it a successful option for conflict resolution remain largely unexplored. This question is now becoming a serious obstacle for international policy makers such as the European Commission, the UN and the Council of Europe, as they promote regional laws and policies to roll out restorative justice in their member states. Furthermore, a number of countries have been trying to “reinvent the wheel” when implementing restorative justice. Very little cross learning has taken place especially in the form of comparative restorative justice policy and practice.
This edited collection will take the first step in presenting evidence of restorative justice theory and practice comparatively. The book’s aim is to compare the implementation and theoretical development of restorative justice using three different criteria that will also reflect the volume’s structure.
First, it compares restorative practices in relation to their implementing environment let that be cultural, political or societal. Second, it looks at obstacles and enablers in relation to the criminal justice system and whether inquisitorial versus adversarial jurisdictions impact on how restorative justice is regulated and implemented. Finally, Part III compares the reasons that drive governments, regional bodies and practitioners to implement restorative justice and whether these impetuses impact on ultimate delivery.
Table of contents
Foreword: David Nelken
Guest's Preface: William Elliott Butler
Editor's Preface: Theo Gavrielides
Chapter 1: Theo Gavrielides - Introduction to Comparative Restorative Justice
Part I: Comparing restorative justice in its implementing environments
Chapter 2: George Pavlich - Formative Promises, Restoration and Decolonizing Justice
Chapter 3: Amanda Wilson - General Terms of Comparison: Two Cores of the Restorative Justice Apple
Chapter 4: Julena Jumbe - An East African Comparative study of indigenous vs post-colonial restorative justice in Tanzania
Chapter 5: Robert Mackay - The shadows of blood feud in the development of restorative justice – illustrations from Albanian and Scottish literature
Chapter 6: John Winterdyk - Comparing aboriginal and post-colonial restorative justice: The case of Canada
Chapter 7: Gabriel Velez, Madeline Hahn and Antonio Butler - Opportunities and challenges for race equality in the age of COVID-19: Comparing virtual with face-face approaches to restorative practices in schools and communities.
Part II: Comparing restorative justice: Adversarial vs inquisitorial criminal justice systems and beyond
Chapter 8: Isabel Ramírez - Comparing the transition from an inquisitorial to an adversarial criminal justice system: An opportunity for restorative justice in Chile
Chapter 9: Wendy Lui - Comparing the implementation of restorative justice in the inquisitorial system of China with the adversarial tradition in Hong Kong
Chapter 10: Jane Bolitho, William R Wood, Masahiro Suzuki, Hennessey Hayes - Roadblocks and Diverging Paths for Restorative Justice in Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand
Chapter 11: Rina Kashyap, Muhammad Asadullah, Ramkanta Tiwari, Nibras Sakafi, Community and Restorative Justice Practices in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh: A Comparative Overview
Chapter 12: Ann Skelton and Mike Batley - Incorporation of African traditional justice processes in restorative child justice systems in Southern Africa
Part III: Comparing impetuses for restorative justice
Chapter 13: Arthur Hartmann and Sophie Settels- Comparative statistics in restorative justice practice
Chapter 14: Marelize Schoeman - Contemporary structured vs. indigenous restorative justice in South Africa: Quo vadis?
Chapter 15: Lorenn Walker and Malina Kaulukukui - Comparison of Native Hawaiian Traditional Ho’oponopono and Modern Restorative Justice
Conclusions: Francis Pakes
Afterword: Michael Palmer
