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Restorative Justice: Sketching A New Legal Discourse, Frank D. Hill

Frank D Hill

Restorative justice has emerged as an increasingly accepted approach to criminal law around the world over the last 30 years or so. Unlike the traditional theories of justice – Kantian justice and utilitarian efficiency – restorative justice focuses on the private rather than the public effects of crime. Restorativists emphasize the needs of primary stakeholders, namely victims and offenders, over the needs of society at large when considering how the criminal justice system should respond to crime. This Article argues this difference in focus is reflected in the various theories’ conceptions of human nature and subjectivity. While the traditional theories …