Mapping Restorative Justice for Green Crime Offenders: An Empirical Study of Sentencing Outcomes in China

Abstract

ABSTRACT Restorative justice (RJ) has attracted significant attention from academia and the criminal justice system across civil society, yet studies that incorporate RJ factors to explain criminal sanction results remain scarce. This study utilizes the precision matching approach to examine sentencing outcomes for green offenses and tests the assumption that green offenders with RJ measures receive more leniency in court than those without RJ. Our findings reveal that most types of green crimes with the involvement of RJ, except for illegal mining have obtained less severe sanction results to a varied degree in terms of probation incidence and lengths of incarceration. By comparison, we also find that the judge might consider reduce penalties when the offender has a guilty plea with or without restorative justice activities (RJA). Additionally, there is a tendency to apply RJ to cases with less severe offenses, and the offenders with RJA seem to be more convincing than those surrendering themselves for shorter sentences. The results provide more empirical evidence for the impacts of RJ intervention on criminal sanctions and also raise concerns about the particularity and discretion of incorporating RJ in the context of green criminology.