ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the research gaps and provides alternative theoretical approaches in order to understand how and why human rights trials can enable a process of reparation for victims. It outlines the contributions and limitations of the existing literature on the impact of human rights trials as well as the arguments for and against retributive justice. The chapter analyses the concept of reparation, and the three different types of reparation provided by human rights trials: civic, personal and social. It addresses different theoretical approaches to the power of law and why it has the potential for reparative effects on the victims of mass atrocities. The analysis of the reparative repercussion of prosecutions is highly relevant since scholarship on this field is scarce. The concealment of the political nature of the law is fundamental to guaranteeing its legitimacy, compliance and thus effectiveness in society.
