Some reflections on Restorative Justice

Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer some reflections on restorative justice system as it represents a valid option in relation to criminal justice for fighting against crime and to pursue the goal of reducing in a short time the widest costs and damages of victims in comparison with the common instruments related to ordinary criminal and civil legal procedures. Design/methodology/approach –The essay firstly focuses on the European Framework leaving from the Directive 2012/29/EU of 25 October 2012, the so called Victims’ Rights Directive, which establishes minimum standards for the rights, assistance and protection of victims of crime and replaces the previous FrameworkDecision 2001/220/JHA2. Given that, two different perspectives of RJ are presented for a better understanding of it. According to the first orientation, basically followed by most practitioners, the central element of the RJ is the restorative process, namely the meeting between the parties and the communication between the perpetrator and the victim of crime. According to the di ferent "maximalist" approach instead . In other words in this second perspective the restorative outcome distinguishes the RJ: it aims at beyond what happens during the process and also in cases where the meeting does not take place. Findings – This work aims to compare benefits and limits of RJ system and its compatibility with Criminal Justice system. There may be even more to gain by working in this way with serious crimes as money laundering, especially in terms of victim benefits, but also in terms of prevention. Such practice would normally take place alongside criminal justice rather than as a replacement for it.