Criminal Justice: Leaning Towards Restorative Justice

Abstract

The World Is Adopting A Change From The Adversarial System Of Criminal Justice Towards Restorative Justice System.  The Offenders And Victims Are Encouraged To Discuss The Effects Of The Crime Committed, To Compensate The Loss Of The Victim, To Reduce The Repercussion Of The Crimes On The Offenders, To Mitigate The Actual Punishment To The Accused Prescribed By Law And Providing An Alternative Agenda For The Criminal To Reform On His Criminality.  The Core Principles Of The Restorative Justice System Is Been Applied In Usa, Few European Countries And Witnessed In Juvenile Justice Delivery System In New Zealand.  Initially It Was Used To Deal With Simpler Crimes Like Housebreak And Property Crimes, But Off Late Many Countries Are Contemplating The Restorative Justice Methods To Resolve Even Serious Crimes Like Violence, Rape, Murder, Assault, Etc.  The Indian Society Is Widely Diversified. Here, People’s Actions Ride On High Emotions, Aggression And Their Vulnerability.  Public Outrage, Mob Fury, High Sensitive Religious And Cultural Ill Will, Vicious Poverty, Illiteracy, Identity Crisis And Lack Of Opportunities Are An Everyday Phenomenon Plaguing Across The Nation On One Or The Other Grounds.  As Such, Crime Is Incidental But The Criminality May Lack Criminal Intent Of Wrongdoing.  India Adopts Reformative Punishments Where Accused Is Considered An Innocent Unless Proved Guilty Beyond Doubt And Further If Proved Guilty; He Shall Be Given Reformative Punishment Over Punitive Punishments.  Whether Such Reformative Punishment Is The Rooted Concept Within Restorative Justice Has To Be Examined? In The Recent Trends, Judicial And Executive Agencies Controlling, Coordinating And Confirming The Happening And Non-Happening Of Crimes Are Slipping Away From Being Legitimate.  Upon The Dictum Of The High Handed, Influential, Elite And Men In Power, Innocents Are Been Wrongly Implicated And Framed In Crimes With Erroneous Investigation And Inquiry.  Shockingly In Certain Hyped And Popular Crimes, The Accused Is Suggestively Declared As An Offender By The ‘Media Trials’ Way To Before The Actual Criminal Or Judicial Trial Had Been Initiated On Him.  A Society In Which Crimes Are Being Used As A Tool To Implicate An Innocent, Oppress The Meek, Cause Life Time Disrepute And Curtail The Freedom Of Life Behind The Caged Doors, Can Restorative Approaches Of Conference, Dialogue Or Mediation Between Offender And Victim Etc., Serve The Purpose Of Delivering Better Justice To The Victims And The Accused?  Whether An Offender And The Offended In A Crime Be Given Appropriate And Deserving Justice Through Mediation Without Having To Go Through The Existing Criminal Procedure?

India Being The Second Largest Populated Country In The World And The Largest Democracy Has A Humongous Crime Rate And Pendency Of Litigation.  Therefore, It Makes An Ideal Ground For Study Of How A Shift Towards Restorative Justice Could Help In Reduction Of Pendency Of Such Criminal Cases And Give A Feel That Effective And Adequate Justice Is Done In A Criminal Case To Meet Its Proper End.

This Article Gives An Insight Into The Restorative Justice Methods Adopted In Western Developed Nations And Seeks To Discuss The Feasibility Of Its Application In The Context Of Indian Criminology And How Far Those Methods Be Applied In Indian System.  Whether In View Of The Vast Diversity, Population, Crime Rates And Circumstances Under Which Crimes Happen In India, Would Restorative Approaches Help In Crime Reduction, Criminal Reformation, Restoration Of Victim To Normalcy And Helping Wrongdoer Reforms His Wrong?