Summary
This review provides an overview of the position and use of restorative justice programmes in twelve European jurisdictions, together with summaries and examples of programmes in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States of America. In each case, the review summarises the provision of restorative justice under four thematic headings: legal base, scope, implementation, and evaluation. The review compares and contrasts the principal features of these themes across the different jurisdictions, identifying, particularly in the case of the European jurisdictions, the similarities and dissimilarities between their various restorative justice initiatives. In doing so, the review draws some lessons about good practice in restorative justice provision. Finally, the review places the work currently being undertaken within wider theoretical debates about the nature and scope of restorative justice, and highlights some of the strengths and weaknesses of evaluative research into its impact.