Reflections on Restorative Justice in Global Context: A Comparative Exploration of Emerging Criminal Justice Paradigms

Abstract

Restorative justice has often been portrayed as a new model in criminal justice and as something radically different from punishment. It is a holistic philosophy growing in popularity with its acceptance and criticism among legal scholars and analysts. The primary objective of this paper is to examine how restorative justice programs address victims' needs compared to the pure penal criminal justice system. This paper approaches this topic via a doctrinal approach of statutes, case law, law reports, journal sources, and online sources. The findings are that the restorative justice system is a growing trend across various jurisdictions of the world, and it is receiving wide acceptance. While restorative justice seeks the happiness of the victims, it has often excluded victims from almost all aspects of their trials. The paper recommends and advocates that the practice be embraced by every country of the globe, Nigeria inclusive, as the system restores the victims' happiness and serves as a deterrence to criminals, to know that they will lose all their loot and beyond.