Reynol’s thesis examines how restorative justice is understood, practiced, and institutionalised in Taiwan’s social and cultural context.

This presentation explores the needs of participants in Taiwanese juvenile justice, how restorative justice addresses these needs, and its impact on those involved. It draws on in-depth interviews with participants and practitioners, as well as participant observation.

Initially inspired by reintegrative shaming theory, restorative justice gained prominence in Taiwan following the 2017 National Conference on Judicial Reform and has been formally integrated into Taiwanese law since 2019. The localisation of restorative justice has become a significant focus, especially given the complexities of relationality in Taiwan’s context.

This presentation will share findings on how restorative justice offers a channel to meet the needs of the Taiwanese context and discuss how these insights can contribute to theory-building from the Global South to the Global North.

This seminar is Reynol's final presentation of his doctoral candidature. 

About the speaker

Reynol Cheng is a PhD scholar at RegNet. Before joining RegNet, he worked as a restorative justice facilitator and police officer in Taiwan. He holds an Honour's degree in criminology and a Master's degree in gender studies. Reynol's research explores contextual understandings and needs of justice, and how societies and institutions can best respond to promote justice, well-being, and social harmony.

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This seminar presentation is a dual-delivery event. Registration is only required for Zoom attendance; registration for in-person attendance is not required as neither the ANU nor ACT Health conduct contact tracing any longer.

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Image credit: Illustration of Taiwanese flag in a fingerprint pattern by CatsWithGlasses on pixabay and ‘Restorative Justice’ Chinese calligraphy output from https://chinese.gratis/tools/chinesecalligraphy/, used with permission.