El mundo hoy se encuentra globalizado. Tal vez, si algo tiene mayor ecumenicidad en él, es la temática fundamental de su existencia: los derechos humanos. Esto muestra una parado¬ja universal, pero también -local, que es imprescindible atenderla si no se quiere dislocar lo global. Ese entramado inexorable conlleva a otra paradoja: ¿cómo integrar lo internacional con lo nacional sin que lo uno y otro se auto deslegitimen? El primer aspecto es la actual y reconocida constitucionalización del derecho, en especial del derecho penal, que sin duda se encuentra en el núcleo duro de los derechos humanos, tal como lo demuestran las discusiones más álgidas, sobresalientes y características de la actualidad, las cuales resultan inseparables. Pero toda sociedad y cultura tienen sus iden¬tidades propias. De allí que se parta de un mínimo de garantías que deben reconocerse a nivel internacional, mismo que puede ser mejorado internamente, de manera que la im¬plementación de un acuerdo tiene que partir del principio pro homine o pro libertate, de conformidad con los artículos 5 del Pacto Internacional de Derechos Civiles y Políticos, y 29 de la Convención Americana de Derechos Humanos, en armonía con los artículos 1, 2,4,9,85,86,93 y 228 de la Carta Política. Este libro, de alguna manera, pretende como programa recorrer ese camino.

"These studies recover the historical roots of thinking that are in conflict with, and critical of, present-day tendencies. Criminological theory over the last few decades has oscillated between extremes: on one side there are calls for increasing the state exercise of punitive power as the only means of providing security, in the face of both urban and international rime; while the other side highlights the need for reducing the exercise of punitive power because of the paradoxical effects that it produces. Useful for academics, practitioners, professionals and students, this book will certainly contribute to a wider awareness in crime prevention and criminal justice."--Publisher's website.

This edited volume contains 22 papers organized into three sections under the following headings: part I is entitled On Promoting Victim Policies; Part II On Reforming Criminal Justice; and Part III On Restorative Justice. All three areas are ones to which Tony Peters, former Professor of Criminology in Leuven, has made a significant contribution and for which he is known as an international authority. During his long and productive academic career Tony Peters led many struggles for criminal justice reform. He was a leading figure in the movement to recognize crime victims' plight and to reaffirm their rights. In Belgium, he spearheaded the early initiatives in restorative justice and became one of its outspoken proponents nationally and internationally. There is no doubt that these three major topics and the various developments and reforms that are addressed in the papers will dominate the thinking about, and the practice of, criminal justice in the years to come. Thus, in addition to paying homage to a congenial friend and an illustrious colleague, it is hoped that this book will appeal and prove useful to all those who have an interest in victims issues, in criminal justice reform, and last but not least, in the promising paradigm of restorative justice.