Restorative justice and victims of terrorism.

Source: (2010) Assisting victims of terrorism. Chapter 7: 267-337. Springer.

Restorative justice for victims of terrorism is a rarely researched topic despite various
legal instruments dealing with the response to terrorism. A common way to respond
to terrorism is either by prosecuting terrorists or by using strategies to prevent terrorism.
However, there is also the need to address the pain of those who have been
victimised through terrorist acts, and to promote reconciliation between conflicting
communities. This latter response is about approaching terrorism and its victims
from a restorative justice perspective. Restorative justice is not restricted to minor
offences but is also applied to the most serious forms of violent crime as will be
discussed in this chapter. This prospect is also reflected in Article 10 of the EU
Council Framework Decision of 15 March 2001 on the Standing of Victims in
Criminal Proceedings, which does not restrict mediation to minor offences from the
outset. From this follows the possibility to apply restorative justice in the context
of terrorism. This is why the European Commission asked to undertake research in
this respect in order to explore such a restorative justice response to terrorism and its
potential for victims of terrorism. Due to limited literature in this respect, the application
of restorative justice in cases of terrorism had to be compared with that of
other forms of serious violent crime and large-scale conflict situations. Restorative
justice practices in these fields are examined in order to highlight their potential for
victims of terrorism. The present chapter aims at exploring possibilities of restorative
justice practices for victims of terrorism in how to deal with the aftermath of…(Excerpt).