A public apology is a component of reparation as stipulated in the United Nations Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights resolution proclaiming the Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law. It is also defined as a restorative process intended to heal and to generate forgiveness on the part of the offended party, for the improper behavior or action of the offender. The process consists in three components: acknowledgment of wrongdoing, admission of responsibility and the action of the wrongdoer to compensate damages produced.
Besides the role of healing and bringing forgiveness on the part of the offended party, public apologies have the function of restoring the health of the social interaction and “publicly acknowledging a shared commitment to some moral values”.[citation needed] According to Cohen (2016) "In order to restore or create moral relations among transgressors and their victims, transgressors …. need to admit their wrongdoing, commemorate or memorialize history, and, most notably, provide an apology."[citation needed]