Bagliori nel ‘vetro’ giuridico dal mare della misericordia

The idea of mercy can be highly inspiring also in the field of law, although, like every scholar or practitioner not initiated in theology, the legal professional too cannot expect to easily find guidelines and orientations for his specialized skills and knowledge drawing upon the huge treasures of religious wisdom. Greatly helpful in the attempt of fully grasping the essential meanings of this idea are those interpretive approaches which explore and reveal its anthropological and cultural premises, thus allowing the legal scholar not to take ‘mercy’ at its face value, namely as somewhat simply equivalent to compassion, leniency or forgiveness. Mercy as an attitude has its roots in the ability to consider ‘time’ more important than ‘space’ (as expressed by Pope Francis in his exhortation Evangelii Gaudium), namely to take all the time needed to listen to ‘other’s’ words and truths, without rushing to embrace simplified solutions short-term protection policies supplied by populists who have no regard for their long-term human and material costs for society. This preserved time allows of the respect for dignity, liberty, rights and humanity of people, even while devising and applying responses to wrongdoings or even crimes, thus taking heed of the long term needs of society, as well as of both victims and offenders, as epitomized in the experience of restorative justice.