National laws do not exist in a vacuum. Independently of whether we subscribe to national law theory or legal positivism, we must accept that all laws are born and indeed contextualised within the given society that they are meant to regulate. This is also true for regional laws such as those passed by the European Commission. In November 2015, the Victims’ Directive came into force to strengthen the position of the victim in criminal proceedings while adding new rights and safeguards. This super-law was the outcome of decades of campaigning, political battles and lobbying by victims and feminists groups. Civil liberties and human rights NGOs also play a key role in bringing this law to what
Over the last thirty years, restorative justice has caused a phenomenon of global interest stemming from a number of different stakeholders within the criminal justice system. The increasingly fast pace in which different theoretical claims and normative aspirations have been generated to support restorative justice practices has been unprecedented. Concurrently with the increase of these numerous volumes of theoretical debates, fears have been created that they might not be in accordance – or at least at same speed – with the practical development of the restorative notion. More importantly, they seem to pay none, or little attention to the alarming warnings principally coming from experien
