<![CDATA[Restorative justice offers an alternative to punitive criminal justice by prioritizing victim recovery, offender accountability, reconciliation, and community participation. This study examines the legal foundations, institutional functions, implementation constraints, and governance requirements of village-based restorative justice in Indonesia. It uses normative legal research with a socio-legal perspective, drawing on legislation, institutional regulations, legal doctrine, and documented customary practices. The analysis finds that constitutional recognition of customary communities, village-governance legislation, and restorative justice rules create a basis for local participation, but do not confer autonomous criminal jurisdiction on villages. Customary institutions may facilitate mediation, reconciliation, restitution, and reintegration in eligible minor disputes. Implementation remains constrained by fragmented authority, uneven mediator competence, weak documentation, elite influence, and risks to victims and vulnerable groups. The study proposes a four-pillar framework comprising legal clarity, institutional capacity, victim protection, and coordinated oversight, positioning village mechanisms as a supervised complement to formal criminal justice in practice.]]>
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