THE VALUE OF APOLOGIES IN LAW AND MORALITY

Abstract

The paper explores the role of apologies in cases of wrongdoing, in the context of both morality and the law, particularly the law of torts. It is shown that apologies are morally required in a strong sense, seeking to repair or re-establish moral relationships from the perspective of restorative justice. Moreover, it is argued that this restorative function is also relevant for the practice of tort law, in which the process could also aim at re-establishing the normative relationship between the parties, and communicating a restorative message to the victim, like apologies. It is discussed whether compensatory remedies in tort law could perform this restorative function, opening the space for further work over this symbolic function that tort systems could potentially perform.