The bishops of England and Wales have called for the value of “restorative justice” to be better recognised in society, citing the contribution that Catholic social teaching has to make on questions of crime, punishment and rehabilitation.
Restorative justice is defined as a process that addresses the offence and its implications, aiming to meet the needs of victims, offenders and the wider community.
Bishop Richard Moth, chair of the department for social justice for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales as well as its liaison bishop for prisons, argues that this type of justice “can be an effective path to both healing for the victims of crime and rehabilitation for offenders”.
