Restorative Justice as a Form of Legal Protection for Children Involved in Legal Cases in the Juvenile Criminal Justice System in Indonesia

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-531-7_44How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Restorative Justice; Legal Protection; Children; Juvenile Criminal Justice System

Abstract

This study discusses the settlement of criminal cases that does not always require punitive sanctions but rather emphasizes direct engagement between the offender and the victim in seeking mutually acceptable solutions. The essence of this approach is to restore the original state through restitution, reconciliation, and the repair of social relations, thereby achieving a more humane and substantive justice. Diversion represents a concrete application of restorative justice principles, aiming primarily to provide more humanistic legal protection for children. Legal protection for children is a shared responsibility of the state, society, and families, and must be carried out comprehensively and sustainably. To examine the implementation of restorative justice as a mechanism for achieving humane, integrative, and effective legal protection for children within the juvenile justice system. This research uses a socio-legal approach through a literature review, analyzing relevant legal frameworks and theoretical perspectives, including Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory, which views law as part of an interrelated network of social systems. The study finds that punitive and repressive measures often have detrimental effects on children due to their incomplete psychological, social, and mental maturity. In contrast, restorative justice prioritizes recovery and reconciliation rather than retribution, fostering social harmony through coordination and collaboration among state institutions and civil society. A systemic and integrated (holistic) restorative justice model should become an integral component of the juvenile justice system, not merely an alternative. The implementation of restorative justice must be structured within interrelated systems–such as education, family, economy, and culture–to ensure effective and sustainable child protection.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Agus Irawan
AU  - Tommy Leonard
AU  - Said Rizal
AU  - Elvira Fitriyani Pakpahan
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/01/03
TI  - Restorative Justice as a Form of Legal Protection for Children Involved in Legal Cases in the Juvenile Criminal Justice System in Indonesia
BT  - Proceedings of the 1st International Forum on Psychology, Law, and Education (IFPLE 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 423
EP  - 434
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-531-7_44
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-531-7_44
ID  - Irawan2026
ER  -