Research Fellow Carlos Bichet Nicoletti awarded with Doctoral degree from the Notre Dame Law School (University of Notre Dame, Indiana)
On 31 May, Carlos Bichet Nicoletti successfully defended his doctoral dissertation entitled ‘Great Expectations: The Limits and Possibilities of Restorative Justice in International Criminal Law’.
Restorative justice has been mentioned in the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) annual reports, in statements made by its President, and is even implied in its caselaw. Conducted under the supervision of Prof. Paolo Carozza (University of Notre Dame, Indiana) Carlos’thesis seeks to answer the question, ‘why restorative justice’? and ‘how restorative justice’? in order to assess how robust and substantive theories of justice that are nowhere to be seen in the text of treaties and documents manifest themselves in international criminal procedure.
This research sees restorative justice as a process in which all the stakeholders (perpetrators, victims and the community) are engaged in finding a response to criminal transgression; it focuses on the harm caused and on being relational, participatory and democratic. These four elements are translated into the analysis of the rules on reparations, victim participation and complementarity in the procedure of international courts and tribunals to determine within a dichotomy of limits and possibilities if the soul-searching of international criminal justice has and can live up to its great expectations.
Congratulations Dr Carlos Bichet Nicoletti!
Your colleagues at the MPI Luxembourg are very proud of you!
