Situating restorative justice in novel jurisdictions: considerations from the Malaysian experience

ABSTRACT

Restorative justice has been seeing increasing global success, and its effectiveness has been supported by decades of research. However, the implementation of restorative justice in novel jurisdictions presents serious challenges, from details to fundamental questions about where restorative justice should be situated in the criminal justice system. Using the case study of Malaysia, this article highlights the early considerations for implementation, with special attention to the position of victims in the process. This article also looks at the relative benefits of implementing restorative justice inside and outside the criminal justice. Our aim is to provide a robust discussion of the unique practical considerations faced when implementing restorative justice in novel jurisdictions, including outside of the West.

KEYWORDS:

• Restorative justice
• public policy
• Malaysia
• victims
• situating

Acknowledgements

Gratitude is expressed to practitioners who were willing to provide information on the current justice system. We also extend acknowledgement to Universiti Sains Malaysia for the resources, specifically a Short-Term Grant, that they provided to finish the article.

Disclosure statement

There are no conflicts of interest to report.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Universiti Sains Malaysia [Short-term grant].

Notes on contributors

Taufik Mohammad

Taufik Mohammad is a social work lecturer in Universiti Sains Malaysia. His research interests range include juvenile delinquency and restorative justice. He is interested in pioneering the implementation of restorative justice in Malaysia. He has piloted the study of victim-offender mediation, by which he learned much about the planning and implementation issues that a policymaker needs to overcome.

Razlini Mohd Ramli

Razlini Mohd Ramli is a Senior Lecturer at School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia. Her research interests include in the area of e-government with emphasis on technology adoption and diffusion in public sector, public policy and public administration. Besides that, she is also interested in the area of citizenship and education.

Ben Anderstone

Ben Anderstone is a political consultant based in Seattle, Washington. He is experienced in the planning of policies as he works with political figures during their campaigns.