The analysis indicates that, first, restorative justice practices within a formal criminal justice framework do not happen effortlessly but must be “staged.” As such, important questions arise as to the “backstage” functions involved with selecting an appropriate setting, appointing participants, and allocating the various roles. The analysis raised important questions concerning whether front-line criminal justice personnel, such as police officers, should be “cast” as key members of the restorative process, particularly when they retain their traditional criminal justice responsibilities. The authors argue that when restorative justice practices are adopted within a formal criminal justice framework, they must conform to certain human rights standards, especially with regard to victims, who are frequently overlooked and even silenced by traditional criminal justice processes. The authors stress the need to reformulate human rights standards with regard to the relations between victims and offenders and between victims and the official restorative justice facilitators. The analysis focuses on the justice process issues that are pertinent when restorative justice practices are used within the framework of formal criminal justice procedures, expectations, values, and consequences. The main goal was to describe the tensions inherent with using restorative justice within a traditional criminal justice framework and how the tensions had been handled by criminal justice participants. A dramaturgical approach (theatrical analysis) was used to highlight the issues that may otherwise have been overlooked. Notes, references