Ostacoli e “pietre di inciampo” nel cammino attuale della giustizia riparativa in Italia

Restorative justice has gained more and more popularity and scientific dignity in Italian legal doctrine. After some twenty years since the first experimental projects took place in Italy, the challenge is now to narrow the gap between words and deeds. Yet this task is made extremely difficult in Italy’s criminal justice system, which is far from being “restorative”, and furthermore which is far from letting retributive paradigms behind. International guidelines and basic principles by the United Nations and the Council of Europe may help develop restorative justice practices correctly. According to the Author, four main issues are, in fact, at stake : the role of voluntary participation and reparation, typical to restorative justice processes, in the criminal justice system, traditionally punitive and non-voluntary; the importance, yet not the exclusive centrality, of victims in restorative justice programmes; the relevance of criminal law’s rules of conduct, instead of punishments; the contribution of the idea of reparation, as moulded by restorative justice, in developing innovative, non-retributive, responses to crime.