Abstract
This article examines the evolution of victims' rights through the lens of the restorative justice system. After briefly outlining the development of the normative framework in the European context and the models adopted, the study addresses the critiques and the challenges related to the victim-centered approach, highlighting the importance of balancing victim's rights with the fundamental principles of criminal law. An overemphasis on the victim's perspective risks promoting preventive-repressive legal models that disregard liberal principles, prioritizing general deterrence through harsher penalties and increased criminalization. Additionally, expanding the victim's procedural role may undermine the defendant's rights and compromise the public nature of punishment. Restorative justice offers a promising alternative by engaging and empowering victims while also addressing offender’s needs for rehabilitation. Advocating for a minimalist approach to criminal law and promoting alternative measures such as mediation and compensation shifts the focus toward more constructive and less repressive responses to crime. If restorative justice represents a fundamentally different approach to crime and criminal justice, it must also include a rethinking of the concept of punishment.