
THE ROLE OF CRIMINAL RECONCILIATION IN ACTIVATING RESTORATIVE JUSTICE IN JORDANIAN, EMIRATI, AND FRENCH LEGISLATION (AN ANALYTICAL LEGAL STUDY)
1. Introduction. – 2. Methodology. – 3. Restorative Justice and Criminal Reconciliation: Nature and Legal Characteristics. – 3.1. Historical Development of Restorative Justice and Criminal Reconciliation. – 3.2. Conceptual Convergence of Restorative Justice and Criminal Reconciliation. – 3.3. Legal Nature of Restorative Justice and Criminal Reconciliation. – 4. Scope, Parties, and Conditions of Criminal Reconciliation in Jordanian, Emirati, and French Legislation. – 4.1. Scope of Criminal Reconciliation. – 4.2. Parties of Criminal Settlement. – 4.3. Terms of the Criminal Reconciliation Agreement. – 5. Impacts of Criminal Reconciliation on Criminal Litigation. – 5.1. Impact of Criminal Reconciliation During the Evidence-Gathering Stage. – 5.2. The Impact of Reconciliation During the Criminal Investigation Stage. – 5.3. Impact of Criminal Reconciliation During the Trial. – 5.4. Impact of Criminal Reconciliation After Sentencing. – 6. Conclusions.
Emirates, and Jordan is triggered by reconciliation. With an emphasis on social cohesion and
justice, criminal reconciliation aims to address crime through alternative means. To address
the shortcomings of conventional criminal justice, this study looks at negotiated justice in these
nations. It places a strong emphasis on defending people's rights and mending the victim-
offender bond. Punitive measures are subordinated to compensatory justice.
Conciliatory justice has replaced traditional punitive measures in the criminal justice systems
of the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and France. Due to the ineffectiveness of traditional
punitive measures for minor offences, parties are now able to settle their differences outside of
the legal system. An alternative to reconciliatory justice, criminal reconciliation attempts to
settle disputes amicably by addressing the repercussions of the crime, making amends,
reintegrating offenders, and fostering social harmony.
Methods: The study utilised descriptive, analytical-inductive, and comparative methods to
analyse legal aspects of criminal reconciliation in three countries. The analytical-inductive
method collected and examined data, the comparative method contrasted legal texts, and the
descriptive method described the phenomenon.
Results and conclusions: Jordanian, Emirati, and French legislations should establish an
arbitral system for criminal reconciliation, allowing accused individuals to plead for specific
crimes. Repeat offences should be addressed with legal action, and criminal reconciliation
should lead to the expiration of criminal claims, including social services and therapy.
Abstract
Emirates, and Jordan is triggered by reconciliation. With an emphasis on social cohesion and
justice, criminal reconciliation aims to address crime through alternative means. To address
the shortcomings of conventional criminal justice, this study looks at negotiated justice in these
nations. It places a strong emphasis on defending people's rights and mending the victim-
offender bond. Punitive measures are subordinated to compensatory justice.
Conciliatory justice has replaced traditional punitive measures in the criminal justice systems
of the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and France. Due to the ineffectiveness of traditional
punitive measures for minor offences, parties are now able to settle their differences outside of
the legal system. An alternative to reconciliatory justice, criminal reconciliation attempts to
settle disputes amicably by addressing the repercussions of the crime, making amends,
reintegrating offenders, and fostering social harmony.
Methods: The study utilised descriptive, analytical-inductive, and comparative methods to
analyse legal aspects of criminal reconciliation in three countries. The analytical-inductive
method collected and examined data, the comparative method contrasted legal texts, and the
descriptive method described the phenomenon.
Results and conclusions: Jordanian, Emirati, and French legislations should establish an
arbitral system for criminal reconciliation, allowing accused individuals to plead for specific
crimes. Repeat offences should be addressed with legal action, and criminal reconciliation
should lead to the expiration of criminal claims, including social services and therapy.
About Authors
PhD (Law), Associate Professor in Criminal Law, College of Law, American University in
the Emirates, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Associate Professor in Criminal Law, Faculty of Law, Al-Balqa Applied University, Al-Salt, Jordan
raed.faqir@aue.ae
r.faqir@bau.edu.jo
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6102-0983
Co-author, responsible for conceptualization, formal analysis, validation, writing-original draft.
Alaeldin Mansour Maghaireh
PhD (Law), Assistant Professor in Criminal Law, Faculty of Law, Ajman University, Ajman,
United Arab Emirates
a.maghaireh@ajman.ac.ae
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9248-1195
Corresponding author, responsible for research methodology, data curation, investigation,
writing-original draft.
Tarek Abdel Salam
PhD (Law), Professor in Tax and Financial Legislations, Dean of College of Law, American
University in the Emirates, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Professor of Public Finance, Faculty of Law, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt
claw.dean@aue.ae
https://orcid.org/0009-0002-9855-3625
Co-author, responsible for research methodology, data curation, investigation, writing-
original draft.
Ehab Alrousan
PhD (Law), Associate Professor in Criminal Law, College of Law, American University in
the Emirates, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
ehab.alrousan@aue.ae
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9888-1111
Co-author, responsible for research methodology, data curation, investigation, writing-
original draft.
Mohammed Nour Eldeen Sayed
PhD (Law), Associate Professor in Criminal Law, College of Law, University of Kalba, Kalba,
United Arab Emirates
mohammed.sayed@ukb.ac.ae
https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8952-3552
Co-author, responsible for research methodology, data curation, investigation, writing-
original draft.
Luma Ali Faraj Al Dhaheri
PhD (Law), Associate Professor, College of Law, American University in the Emirates,
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
luma.aldahery@aue.ae
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4826-5123
Co-author, responsible for research methodology, data curation, investigation, writing-
original draft.
Competing interests: No competing interests were disclosed.
Disclaimer: The authors declare that their opinion and views expressed in this manuscript
are free of any impact of any organizations.
Copyright: Raed S. A. Faqir, Alaeldin Mansour Maghaireh, Tarek Abdel Salam,
Ehab Alrousan, Mohammed Nour Eldeen Sayed, Luma Ali Faraj Al Dhaheri. This is an open
access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License,
(CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any
medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
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АНОТАЦІЯ УКРАЇНСЬКОЮ МОВОЮ
Дослідницька стаття
Раед С. А. Факір, Алаелдин Магхайре*, Тарек Абдель Салам, Ехаб Алрусан,
Могаммед Нур Елдін Сайєд та Лума Алі Фарадж Аль Дагері
АНОТАЦІЯ
Вступ. У дослідженні вивчається, як відновне правосуддя у Франції, Об’єднаних
Арабських Еміратах та Йорданії здійснюється за допомогою примирення. Із наголосом
на соціальній згуртованості та справедливості примирення у кримінальному
провадженні має на меті боротися зі злочинністю альтернативними засобами. Щоб
усунути недоліки традиційного кримінального правосуддя, у цій статті розглядається
договірне правосуддя в зазначених країнах. Звернено увагу на захист прав людини і
налагодження зв’язку між жертвою та правопорушником. Каральні заходи
підпорядковуються компенсаційному правосуддю.
Примирне правосуддя замінило традиційні каральні заходи в системах кримінального
правосуддя Об’єднаних Арабських Еміратів, Йорданії та Франції. Через неефективність
традиційних заходів покарання за дрібні правопорушення сторони тепер можуть
вирішувати свої розбіжності поза правовою системою. Примирення, альтернатива
відновному правосуддю, намагається вирішити суперечки мирним шляхом за допомогою
усунення наслідків злочину, відшкодування шкоди, реінтеграції правопорушників і
сприяння соціальній злагоді.
Методи. У статті використовувалися описовий, аналітико-індуктивний та
порівняльний методи для аналізу правових аспектів примирення в трьох країнах. За
допомогою аналітико-індуктивного методу було зібрано і проаналізовано дані.
Порівняльний метод застосовували для зіставлення юридичних текстів, а описовий —
для опису досліджуваного явища.
Результати та висновки. Кримінальне законодавство Йорданії, ОАЕ та Франції має
запровадити арбітражну систему примирення, дозволяючи обвинуваченим особам
заявляти про конкретні злочини. Повторні правопорушення повинні вирішуватися в
судовому порядку, а примирення має призвести до закриття провадження за
кримінальними позовами, включно з наданням відповідних соціальних послуг та терапією.
Ключові слова: відновне правосуддя, примирення у кримінальному законодавстві,
компенсаційна угода, зміст примирення та його сторони, правові наслідки, закриття
провадження за кримінальним позовом, Йорданія, Об’єднані Арабські Емірати, Франція.
Keywords
- restorative justice, criminal reconciliation, compensatory agreement, scope of reconciliation and its parties, legal consequences, expiration of the criminal claim, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, France.
Publication history
- Date of submission: 08 Feb 2025
Date of acceptance: 31 Mar 2025
Date of publication: 14 May 2025
Whether the manuscript was fast tracked? - No
Number of reviewer report submitted in first round: 2 reports
Number of revision rounds: 1 round, last revised version submitted 27 Mar 2024
Technical tools were used in the editorial process:
Plagiarism checks - Turnitin from iThenticate https://www.turnitin.com/products/ithenticate/
Scholastica for Peer Review https://scholasticahq.com/law-reviews
Managing Editor – Mag. Yuliia Hartman. . English Editor – Julie Bold.
Ukrainian Language Editor – Mag. Liliia Hartman.
How to cite it?
- Faqir RSA, Maghaireh AM, Abdel Salam T, Alrousan E, Eldeen Sayed MN and Al Dhaheri
LAF, ‘The Role of Criminal Reconciliation in Activating Restorative Justice in Jordanian,
Emirati, and French Legislation (An Analytical Legal Study)’ (2025) 8(2) Access to Justice
in Eastern Europe 93-120
https://doi.org/10.33327/AJEE-18-8.2-r000108