H.J.R. Kaptein is a Senior Lecturer in Jurisprudence at the University of Amsterdam and M. Malsch is a Senior Lecturer in Criminal Law and Criminology at NISCALE, Leiden University, The Netherlands.

'The great merit of this book is that it does not just collect papers by restorative justice believers. It also offers well-thought and very critical approaches to restorative justice. It helps to focus and to further the theoretical debate on how to grasp the essentials of restorative justice; in how far restorative justice really improves the position of all victims, in comparison to criminal justice; how restoration relates to punishment and how restorative justice relates to the criminal justice system.' Professor Lode Walgrave, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium 'Thought-provoking stuff.' The Commonwealth Lawyer '...this book offers a range of views, is well-written and provides a solid platform for future debate. Moreover, its multi-national perspective adds further weight to its academic credibility...the quality of this book is high and the strength of the individual pieces warrants it worthy of recommendation.' International Review of Victimology

• Contents: Doubts on the upsurge of the victim's role in criminal law, Ybo Buruma; Gearing justice action to victim satisfaction: contrasting two justice philosophies: retribution and redress, Ezzat Fattah; Compensation for victims of crime, Ian Freckelton; Victims' rights and restorative justice: piecemeal reform of the criminal justice system or a change of paradigm?, Marc Groenhuijsen; Against the pain of punishment: retribution as reparation through penal servitude, Hendrik Kaptein; Victims on view: are victims served by the principle of open justice?, Marijke Malsch; Victims and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Ã…sa Rydberg; The rights and needs of victims in the criminal justice process, Martin Wright; Index.