Can Criminal Law Instruments Implement the Concept of Restorative Justice?

Abstract

Restorative justice underlies various legal solutions all over the world. The Polish legislator also made reference to restorative justice by including the settlement between the offender and the victim among sentencing directives. The objective of this article is to conduct a more detailed examination of this directive in relation to the essence of RJ, and then to review and analyse the solutions adopted in Polish criminal law in terms of their usefulness for the implementation of the objectives of restorative justice. The text will concentrate on those instruments and penal measures which are not designed to be used for repression against the offender and create – at least seemingly – space for objectives closer to RJ. The compensatory measures, the probative measures and an active repentance will be taken into account. The Polish criminal law is consistent with the continental model existing in all Europe. Therefore, conclusions resulting from this analysis may provide inspiration also for authors functioning in normative realities other than Polish.