Restorative Justice Two Decades after the Transition to an Accusatory System in Chile

Abstract

This paper analyzes how the implementation of restorative systems has operated in Chile, two decades after the transition from the inquisitorial criminal procedure system to an accusatory one, which incorporates the principle of opportunity, in replacement of the oral trial. For this research, a qualitative, dogmatic and empirical methodology was used, with a descriptive and exploratory design and a limited field work. It is concluded that, unlike some Latin American countries, where these restorative mechanisms have been applied massively, in Chile this did not occur, and this restorative approach has not had an influence on the solution of the criminal conflicts that would have been expected.