ANALYSIS OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE IN THE RESOLUTION OF MINOR CRIMINAL OFFENSES AS AN EFFORT TO REFORM THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM IN INDONESIA (A Study at the Tanjungkarang District Court Class IA)

Abstract

The implementation of restorative justice in handling minor criminal offences represents a shift from a retributive approach toward the restoration of social relationships among offenders, victims, and communities. By providing a fair and participatory dialogue, restorative justice can reduce procedural inequalities, particularly for vulnerable groups, while maintaining legal certainty. This study examines the implementation of restorative justice in resolving minor criminal offences as an effort to reform Indonesia’s criminal justice system and identifies the factors hindering its implementation. The research employs a normative and empirical juridical approach using primary and secondary data obtained through literature and field studies, which are analyzed through qualitative juridical analysis. The findings demonstrate that restorative justice has contributed to transforming punitive judicial practices into more humane, rational, and responsive processes by prioritizing the restoration of social conditions and addressing procedural inequalities. However, its implementation remains constrained by overlapping regulations among law enforcement institutions, performance targets oriented toward case resolution, limited mediation facilities, and a deeply rooted retributive legal culture. Therefore, criminal justice reform requires more than regulatory changes; it necessitates regulatory harmonization, institutional coordination, improved mediation facilities, and a paradigm shift among law enforcement officers and society. Strengthening restorative justice requires unified regulations, greater judicial sensitivity, and active community participation in resolving minor offences through dialogue and reconciliation.