The Past, Present, and Future of Restorative Justice in the Chinese Mainland: A Systematic Review of Chinese Literature

In the Chinese mainland, restorative justice is closely related to “people’s mediation” and “victim-offender reconciliation.” These two terms reflect the content of restorative justice from different perspectives. Restorative justice was first introduced to the Chinese mainland in 2002, followed by some preliminary research. In-depth evaluation was conducted, and restorative justice later caught high-level attention and developed intensively. Restorative justice has become a hot topic in the Chinese mainland, with a lot of research conducted, many papers published, and a few books released, especially in the subfields of environmental crimes, juvenile cases, and corrections. At the same time, various criminal justice agencies have incorporated restorative justice at different stages of the criminal justice system, including criminal investigation, prosecution, adjudication, and corrections. Restorative justice has been well-established in legislation and widely practiced in law enforcement. It is built upon consensus, Chinese culture, and people’s mediation. It therefore has the potential to be applied continuously and effectively in the justice system.