Morality, Symbolism, and Criminal Law: Chances and Limits of Mediation Programs

Abstract

This contribution analyzes the prospects and limits of the mediation approach as an alternative to the principle of retribution, and it is based on the assumption that criminal law, its institutions, and sanctions symbolize existing morals or basic social values. Mediation or victim-offender reconciliation between disputing parties does not offer such symbols of morality. Criminal justice is oriented toward basic social norms or values, and mediation focuses on individuals. Therefore the two paradigms have different objectives. However, the most important innovative aspect of mediation is to be seen in its discursive paradigm, and, for this reason, this approach may be thought to have a future. At the end of the contribution, the sociolegal concept of “reflexive law” is suggested as a possible model of cooperation with the criminal justice system.