1155.5.
(a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:(1) “Communication” means any communication or writing, as defined in Section 250, that is made or prepared for the purpose of, in the course of, or pursuant to, any phase of a restorative justice process.
(2) “Facilitator” means a person who facilitates a restorative justice process.
(3) “Participant” means a person who participates in a restorative justice process, and may include a facilitator, a person accused of or responsible for causing harm, a person
who has been harmed, or any participating community members.
(4) “Restorative justice process” means a facilitated, community-based process in which parties who have caused harm or who have been harmed and in which community members may collectively gather to identify and repair harm to the extent possible. Restorative justice processes focus on accountability, healing, and safety and on the harms, needs, and obligations of all parties involved through a participatory process and may or may not include a dialogue between participants.
(A) “Restorative justice process” includes, but is not limited to, restorative justice processes described in Section 48900.5 of the Education Code, Section 679.02 of the Penal Code, and Section 742 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code.
(B) This definition encompasses all phases of the process, including, but not limited to, referral, preparation, preenrollment, enrollment, postenrollment, a facilitated dialogue, and post-dialogue phases of the process.
(C) This definition is not intended to include general restorative justice programming that is primarily focused on teaching and practicing restorative justice principles.
(b) Except as provided in this section, an individual’s participation or nonparticipation in a restorative justice process and any communication within a restorative justice process are not admissible or subject to discovery, and disclosure shall not be compelled, in any arbitration, administrative adjudication, civil
action, criminal action, juvenile action, or other proceeding regardless of completion or outcome of the process.
(c) A communication within the restorative justice process is not made inadmissible by this section if any of the following has occurred:
(1) All participants in the restorative justice process have provided written consent that all communication during the restorative justice process may be disclosed, or that a specific statement may be disclosed, provided that such consent was knowing, intelligent, free of coercion, and voluntary. Where participants consent to a limited part of the communication, only that specific communication is subject to disclosure. Where a participant is deceased or cannot be located after reasonable efforts, their written consent is deemed to
have been knowing, intelligent, free of coercion, and voluntary.
(2) The communication discloses information that a participant, including, but not limited to, a mandated reporter, is otherwise required by law to disclose.
(3) During the restorative justice process, a participant engages in any conduct that involves the use of force or the threat of force, including, but not limited to, conduct described in subdivision (d) of Section 243 or Section 422 of the Penal Code, against another participant, and the restorative justice process ends as a result of this conduct. In such a case, only communication relevant to that conduct is admissible.
(4) During the restorative justice process, a participant discloses that they were involved in a crime that could result in a life term for which the participant had not been previously charged.
(d) Evidence that is obtained independently from the restorative justice process does not become inadmissible or protected from discovery solely because it was discussed or used in a restorative justice process.
(e) The determination of whether a process qualifies as a restorative justice process pursuant to this section, if challenged in any arbitration, administrative adjudication, civil action, criminal action, juvenile action, or other proceeding, shall be determined by the court or finder of fact. In a hearing conducted pursuant to this subdivision, the court or finder
of fact may consider information that would otherwise be inadmissible to the extent that the information is probative of the issue.
(f) This section applies to all communications that take place during a restorative justice process, including those that occur prior or subsequent to enactment of this section, where the arbitration, administrative adjudication, civil action, criminal action, juvenile action, or other proceeding at which admission is sought occurs after the effective date of this section.