Restorative justice and non-custodial sentences are alternative approaches to theconventional criminal justice process. They provide opportunities to parties (offenders,victims, their families, and the community) to take part in addressing the crime andcarrying out restitution to reverse the harm caused by it. These are mainly the onlymeasures available for victims to participate in redressing the wrong done by theoffender. Restorative justice and non-custodial sentence do not only punish the offenderwho has committed a criminal offence in a way different from imprisonment but alsoprovide succour to the victim of the crime through restitution, compensation, publicapology, and other restorative means. The concept of restorative justice is the lesson thatcriminal behaviour does not only break the law but also causes harm to the victims andthe community while the non-custodial sentence gives the offender a second chance tomake a difference in society. This article considers the legal framework for restorativejustice and non-custodial sentences in Nigeria through the United Nations rules and theSustainable Development Goal 16, Goal 16 is about promoting peaceful and inclusivesocieties, providing access to justice for all and building effective, accountable andinclusive institutions at all levels. This article adopts doctrinal research methodology andplaces reliance on primary and secondary sources. It relies on international law, statutes,case laws, articles in journals, and online materials among others. It argues that bothrestorative justice and non-custodial sentence are effective measures in criminal justiceadministration in Nigeria.
Adewumi et al. (Wed,) studied this question.
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