Beyond face-to-face: Exploring the restorative potential of shuttle mediation

Restorative justice is ideally conducted through face-to-face dialogue between victims and offenders, enabling direct engagement in addressing the aftermath of crime. This personal interaction is considered central to achieving the core aims of restorative justice, including accountability, empathy and healing. However, low rates of victim participation, alongside various practical and emotional constraints, often render face-to-face meetings unfeasible or undesirable. In response, shuttle mediation, where a facilitator conveys messages between the parties separately, has been adopted as a widely used alternative in the United Kingdom. This article explores the potential of shuttle mediation as a restorative justice intervention. Drawing on the existing, albeit limited, body of literature, it argues that while shuttle mediation can embody restorative principles, is widely implemented, and reflects the growing interest in restorative justice practices that extend beyond physical co-presence, its full potential remains unclear due to the paucity of empirical research. To bridge this gap, the article proposes avenues for future research aimed at strengthening the restorative nature of shuttle mediation.