Restoring Justice

Abstract

Miscarriages of justice in Britain have been exposed as injustices largely as a result of public campaigns by victims of miscarriages and by the families and associates of those victims. This study, based on empirical research on those involved with justice campaigns, examines the motivational forces behind justice campaigns and the goals that justice campaigners seek to achieve. In doing so it applies the conceptual framework and principles of restorative justice as a means of interpreting the motivations behind justice campaigns, and in particular the principles of victim participation, dialogue, communication, apology, healing and future orientation. It concludes that, insofar as justice campaigns exhibit restorative justice principles, this is very much a one-sided process, because the ‘offenders’ in miscarriages of justice - the state and state institutions - are reluctant to accept guilt or acknowledge failure.