Restorative justice capacities in Middle Eastern culture and society: towards a hybrid model of juvenile justice in Palestine

This paper discusses about the benefits that hybrid model of juvenile justice can bring in terms of access to justice and restorative juvenile justice in Palestine. Hybrid model is defined, in this paper, as a juvenile justice coherent framework of links between Palestinian state juvenile justice and non-state justice providers. It highlights that informal and non-state justice systems are more accessible and speedy and people more frequently refer to them to settle disputes. However, informal justice systems sometimes fail in the processes of justice dispensation and disregard children’s rights. Therefore, it is argued in this article that hybrid model not only promises to provide better and efficient justice, but also has the capacity to minimize rights violation through proposed internal and external oversight mechanisms. This may result in the definition of more accessible, inclusive and restorative juvenile justice to children in Palestine.