作者：曹妍

     与我们解决刑事冲突的传统司法程序相比，恢复性司法是另一种使用不同原则和模式的哲学。恢复性司法对犯罪采取了以受害者为中心的方法。从恢复性司法的角度来看，犯罪是对人和人际关系的一种侵犯。它注重伤害，承认受害者的需求，并注重让犯罪者对受害者和社区负责。在恢复性司法系统中，我们需要解决受害者的伤害和需求，让受害者自愿参与这个系统，让犯罪者负责纠正这些伤害，并让受害者、犯罪者和社区参与这个过程。在某种程度上，恢复性司法寻求 "拨乱反正"，它认为拨乱反正的义务首先是造成伤害者的责任。因此，恢复性司法的核心重点是受害者的需求和犯罪者修复伤害的责任。 

     恢复性司法是犯罪与司法领域的热议话题。其倡导者认为，应对犯罪的刑罚措施及其他常规社会措施既不能满足被害人需求，也不能防止再犯，因此应当用恢复性司法取而代之。在恢复性司法中，犯罪人的家庭及社区可以鼓励犯罪人为其行为之后果承担责任、表达痛悔的心情并修复伤害；恢复性司法还强调使犯罪人重新融入社区，反对通过刑罚及排斥性措施控制犯罪人。 

     恢复性司法是犯罪与司法领域的热议话题。其倡导者认为，应对犯罪的刑罚措施及其他常规社会措施既不能满足被害人需求，也不能防止再犯，因此应当用恢复性司法取而代之。在恢复性司法中，犯罪人的家庭及社区可以鼓励犯罪人为其行为之后果承担责任、表达痛悔的心情并修复伤害；恢复性司法还强调使犯罪人重新融入社区，反对通过刑罚及排斥性措施控制犯罪人。通过在恢复性司法短课的学习，我对教授提出的以下问题做了回答:

     问：在这门课程中，你对恢复性司法的了解如何改变了你对美国刑事司法的看法？

     答：起初，我不得不说，直到本学期，我对美国的刑事司法知之甚少，至于我的常识，我最初认为美国有大规模监禁，美国的刑事制度是对抗性的。直到这个学期，我才开始对恢复性司法有所了解。因此，我认为这门课程给了我很多想法和理解。我知道有一种以受害者为中心的司法方法，也有一些实用的模式，比如受害者-罪犯调解、家庭小组会议、量刑圈等。学习恢复性司法确实使我改变了一些关于刑事司法的想法，我认为既然有恢复性司法，刑事司法就会变得更温暖，更人性化，而不是冷漠。这是因为恢复性司法将更多的注意力放在受害者身上，并将不法行为视为对人际关系的伤害。我认为在某种程度上，我同意恢复性司法的想法。在恢复性司法中，被害人有机会说出自己的真实感受、想法和经历，如果愿意的话，同时罪犯也有机会告诉他们，这让我们更好地了解被害人和罪犯，分析犯罪的原因，甚至可以帮助我们降低犯罪率， 尤其是累犯率。我不得不说，从这门课程中，我改变了我对这个有大规模监禁的国家的刑事制度的看法，我了解到刑事司法在美国不是侵略性的，机械的，而是科学和温暖的。 

    问：我们的机构对犯罪的反应应该如何改变，如果有的话？ 

     答：对于第一点，我认为由于恢复性司法的出现，我们的机构应该更加关注受害者，并努力协调受害者和罪犯之间的紧张关系。我们可以在制度层面开发一些模型，让受害者自愿加入进来表达自己，也可以让罪犯、他们的律师、检察官甚至社区进入这些模型来应对这种变化。在我看来，我认为现有的一些模式，如受害者 - 罪犯调解，家庭小组会议，量刑圈和赔偿委员会，现在非常好，很合适，即使我们可能有更多的改进。此外，我认为，就机构而言，还可以引入一些配套法规，还可以增加现有刑事司法部门中擅长恢复性司法的部分。 

    问：律师在实现这些变化方面应该发挥什么作用？ 

     答：就像我们在课堂上谈到的那样，辩护律师可能会带来两种角色，即障碍和桥梁。对于路障来说，它来自传统律师在法律体系中的作用。从律师角色的传统观点来看，由于法律制度是对抗性的，律师需要为客户的利益进行辩论和辩论。对于桥梁，我认为这可以被看作是律师在恢复性司法中的作用的改进和改革。“桥梁”角色反映了律师认为赎罪，宽恕，赔偿，和解比为客户争取最终和最佳利益更重要。如果律师能够很好地发挥“桥梁”作用，那么用恢复性司法解决案件的过程将更加顺利。律师应该知道他们的客户何时需要机会讲述他们的故事和经历，以及如何帮助他们的客户获得受害者的原谅以恢复这种关系，即使恢复性正义的关键目标不是原谅。 至于地方检察官的角色，正如我们在课堂上讨论的那样，他们的角色就像一个守门人。正如我们和《恢复性司法小书》所提到的，"一旦检察官接受了他作为守门人的角色，那么从弥漫在传统刑事司法系统中的 "追踪他们、钉死他们、监禁他们 "的心态，到根据什么结果最能满足受害者、社区和罪犯的需求来考虑每个案件的恢复性司法思维模式的转变，只是一个短暂的跳跃。我认为，在案件审理过程中，检察官应适当发挥其作用，决定如何以及何时应采用恢复性司法的模式或方法，并使受害者自愿参与恢复性司法系统。特别是当检察官作为一方捍卫受害者的利益和保护司法系统的良好运作时，他们应该更好地充当看门人。

   问：最后，作为未来的律师，在实现这些变化方面，您能够/将扮演什么角色？ 

   答：作为一名未来的律师，特别是当我更喜欢成为一名辩护律师时，我会在实现这些变化的过程中充当“桥梁”，因为我认为我同意法律制度中恢复性司法的想法。当我想到我们为什么有司法系统时，我认为这是因为我们想要解决争端，而在刑事系统中，我们希望调和受害者与罪犯之间的关系，以便受害者得到赔偿，罪犯受到惩罚。如果我们的律师在恢复性司法中架起桥梁，让受害者和我们的客户都有机会表达他们的感受和经历，那么在某些方面，这可能是一个双赢的局面。此外，在某些情况下，如果被告能够获得被害人的宽恕，他可能会受到较轻的判决，这可以说是帮助我们的客户获得最大利益的另一种方法。从这个角度来看，如果我们的客户在经历了恢复性司法所包含的诉讼程序后不会是累犯，这怎么能不被认为是一个成功的情况呢？顺便说一句，即使我将成为其他国家的律师，在完成这个短暂的恢复性司法课程后，我想我也会非常乐意在我的国家实践一些类似于恢复性司法的模式。

（作者曹妍系范德堡大学法学院硕士研究生，本文是课堂作业的中文翻译版）

    以下为课堂作业的英文原版：

Compared with our traditional judicial process to solve criminal conflict, restorative justice is another philosophy using a different set of principles and models. Restorative justice takes a victim-centered approach to crime. From the prospective of restorative justice, the crime is a violation of people and of interpersonal relationships. It focuses on harm and recognizes the needs of victims and focuses on holding offenders accountable to their victims and communities. In restorative justice system, we need to address victims’ harm and needs by letting victims participate in this system voluntarily, hold offenders accountable to redress these harms, and engage victims, offenders and communities in the process. To some extent, restorative justice seeks to “make things right”, it believes that the obligation to put right is first of all the responsibility of those who have caused the harm. Thus, the central focuses for restorative justice are victims needs and offender responsibility for repairing harm. Restorative justice is a hotly debated topic in the field of crime and justice. Its advocates argue that penal and other conventional social measures to deal with crime neither meet the needs of victims nor prevent recidivism, therefore, it should be replaced by restorative justice. In restorative justice, the offender's family and community can encourage the offender to take responsibility for the consequences of his or her actions, express remorse, and repair the harm; restorative justice also emphasizes the reintegration of the offender into the community and rejects the use of penalties and exclusionary measures to control the offender. Through the short course on restorative justice, I prepare some responses to the following questions posed by the professor: Q: How, if at all, has what you have learned about restorative justice in this course changed the way you think about criminal justice in United States? A: At first, I have to say that I don’t know much about criminal justice in United States until this semester, and as for my plain knowledge, I initially believe the States has mass incarceration and the States’ criminal system is adversarial. And until this semester, I just begin to know much about restorative justice. Thus, I think this course give me plenty of ideas and understanding. I know there is a kind of victim-centered method of justice and there are some kinds of practical models, like victim-offender mediation, family group conferencing, sentencing circles etc. . Learning restorative justice does make me change some ideas about criminal justice, I think since there has restorative justice, criminal justice becomes warmer and more humane rather than indifference. That’s because restorative justice puts more attention on victims and views wrongdoing as harm to relationships. And I think to some extent, I agree with the idea of restorative justice. In restorative justice, the victim has the opportunity to tell his true feelings, thoughts and experiences, if he wishes, and at the same time the offender has the opportunity to tell them, which allows us to better understand the victim and offender and analyze the causes of the crime, and can even help us reduce the crime rate, especially the recidivism rate. I have to say, from this course, I changed my view with the criminal system in this country which has mass incarceration, I learned that criminal justice is not aggressive, mechanical, but scientific and warm in United State. Q: How, if at all, should our institutional response to crime change? A: For the first point, I think because of the emergence of restorative justice, and our institution should pay more attention to victims and try to coordinate the tensional relationship between victims and offenders. And we can develop some models at the institutional level which can let victims join in voluntarily to express themselves and also let offenders, their attorneys, prosecutors and even community to enter these models to deal with this change. From my view, I think some existed models, like victim-offender mediation, family group conferencing, sentencing circles, and reparative board, are very good and suitable now, even though we may have more improvement. In addition, I think that in terms of the institution, some supporting regulations can also be introduced and some parts of the existing criminal justice sector that are good at restorative justice can also be added. Q: What role should attorneys play in bringing about those changes? A: Like what we talked in classes, there are two kinds of role that defense attorneys may bring about those changes, those are roadblocks and bridges. For roadblock, it comes from the traditional attorney’s role in legal system. From the traditional view of attorney’s role, since the legal system is confrontational, the attorneys need to argue and debate for their clients’ interests. For bridges, I think it could be seen as the improved and reformational role of attorney in restorative justice. The “bridges” role reflects that the attorneys believe that expiation, forgiveness, compensation, reconcilement are more important than fighting for the ultimate and best benefit for their clients. If attorneys can play the “bridges” role well, the process of resolving cases with restorative justice will be smoother. Attorneys should know when their clients need a chance to narrate their story and experience, and how to help their clients obtain the victims’ forgiveness to restore this kind of relationships, even though the key objective of restorative justice is not forgiveness. As for District Attorneys’ role, as we discuss in class, the role of them is like a gatekeeper. And as we and the Little Book of Restorative Justice mentioned, “Once the prosecutor accepts his role as gatekeeper, it is a short jump to the paradigm shift from the “trail ’em, nail ’em, jail ’em” mentality that pervades the traditional criminal justice system, to the restorative justice mind set that considers every case in light of what outcome best addresses the needs of the victim, community and offender.” And I think in the proceeding of case, prosecutors should utilize their role properly to decide how and when should they use models or methods of restorative justice and to make victims participate in restorative justice system voluntarily. Especially when prosecutors act as a party to defend the interests of victims and protect the good functioning of the justice system, they should do a better job as gatekeepers. Q: Finally, what role can/will you, as a future attorney, play in bringing about those changes? A: As a future attorney, especially when I prefer to be a defense attorney, I will play as a “bridge” in bringing about those changes, because I think I agree with the idea of restorative justice in legal system. When I think about why we have the judicial system, I think that’s because we want to solve the dispute, and in criminal system, we want to reconcile the relationship between the victim and the offender, so that the victim is compensated and the offender is punished. If we attorneys build bridges in restorative justice and give both victims and our clients the opportunity to express their feelings and experiences, it can be a win-win situation in some ways. Besides, in some circumstances, if the defendant can obtain forgiveness of victim, he may receive lesser sentencing, it could be said as a different method to help our clients to get their best interests. From this view, if our client will not be a recidivism after going through proceedings contained with restorative justice, how can this not be considered a successful situation? By the way, even I will be an attorney in other country, after finishing this short course of restorative justice, I think I would be very happy to practice some kind like models in restorative justice in my country.