Restorative Justice and the Potential of 'Exemplarity': In Search of a 'Persuasive' Coherence Within Criminal Justice

A philosophical exploration in the field of RJ is proposed in this chapter. The contribution highlights the difference between criminal justice system which focuses on punishment, coercion, deterrence, incapacitation, enforcement, and negative sanctions, with restorative justice and responsive regulation which focus on rule of conduct, compliance, persuasion, participation, positive sanctions, and reparation. The author argues that restorative justice can show criminal law how to 'work' in a different way and to rethink its aims, drafting an idea in which the law and the justice system have the primary task to protect, not to control or punish. Participation and compliance play a central role, both in designing norms and in responding to their violations. A new theory of criminal law in which norms of conduct are more important than mere sanctions is put forward. Basing her arguments on the philosophical concepts of 'example' and 'exemplarity', as proposed by Alessandro Ferrara, the author argues that restorative justice-oriented norms talk about the experience of injustices with the 'force of example', where 'is' and 'ought' merge. In the frame of restorative justice and responsive regulation, norms address the citizens as examples do, and stimulate their reflective judgment, persuading them, and asking them to comply. In this frame, sanctions too should address citizens as examples do, stimulating their reflective judgment, persuading them, and asking them to comply.