Does the Restorative Justice System Work in the English Criminal Justice System - Research Paper Example

The roots of restorative justice in the English criminal system can be evidenced in the Criminal Justice Act 1972, whereby offenders were ordered to pay compensation for “personal injury, loss or damage”, resulting from the offense (Williams 2004: 108-110). These orders were only permitted in addition to other sentences as opposed to being a substitute. The Criminal Justice Act 1982 shifted the dynamic through the introduction of a compensation order alternative as a punishment, however, the extent to which criminal compensation schemes serve the purpose of “restorative justice” has been questioned as often victims have commented on the importance of receiving a morally symbolic victory in place of monetary compensation (Zehr, 1999; Wright, 2002).

The majority of official restorative measures have been focused on the youth offending system (Shapland et al, 2006). A prime example is the measures introduced by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 with the implementation of reparation orders, final warnings, action plan orders and amendments to existing supervision order provisions (Crawford and Newburn, 2002): 476, 478). Furthermore, the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 developed a restorative justice approach with the creation