ABSTRACT

This chapter explores the tensions between restorative justice as a bottom-up social movement and the fact that its philosophical fundamentals require it to exercise power accountably. It aims to develop two philosophical positions: that top-down accountability of some form is needed with top-down standards that are contestable bottom-up; and that human rights must be protected by restorative justice processes. The chapter shows that human rights meta-narratives that come from can be made concretely meaningful by local standards that have contextual relevance to restorative justice programmes. Northern Ireland is selected as a least likely case study for such an approach in Western societies—a case study selected as one where the approach would prove least likely to be feasible. Common ground among all the restorative justice initiatives in Northern Ireland seems to be to transcend this particular form of domination, though there are competing visions of how to accomplish this.