ABSTRACT
Not too long after restorative justice ideas and ideals took the scholarly world of crime studies by storm (and even led to restorative practice, however scattered), uneasiness about things restorative is rising. Typical restorative justice measures like victim-offender meetings may be more or less adequate in dealing with lesser crime, for example street robbery without lasting physical (and hopefully, mental and emotional) consequences. In such cases, restorative justice may do good to everybody concerned, while punitive measures may be superfluous or even counterproductive. But how would restorative justice look like in cases of murder? Apart from a few exceptions, talking with surviving relatives seems just as senseless as talking to the dead themselves.
