AGIS 2: Meeting the challenges of introducing victim-offender mediation in Central and Eastern Europe

Objectives:

The general objective of the project was to realise, in two years, an effective support to the development of restorative justice in Central and Eastern European countries (CEE).

The specific objectives of the project were:
1. to study, at the conceptual and practical level, what the possibilities are for implementing restorative justice in CEE given their specific political, economical, cultural and legal background.
2. to discuss how the experience in Western European countries can inform and support the development of restorative justice in CEE.
3. to prepare strategies for promoting the development of an integrated policy concerning restorative justice in CEE.
4. to actively work towards creating dynamics for exchange and co-operation (networking) between CEE in this field.
5. to discuss what Western European countries can learn from the developments in criminal justice in CEE.
6. to study what can be learned from the previous points in terms of policy development concerning restorative justice at the level of the European Union.

This was approached by discussing how the experience in Western European countries could inform and support the development of restorative justice in CEE countries, by preparing strategies for promoting the development of an integrated restorative justice policy in CEE, and by creating a dynamic exchange and co-operation between CEE (networking). But also Western European countries have much to learn from the options taken in CEE, which was also be discussed during the project.

During the project 2 expert meetings and 2 seminars for restorative justice practitioners, policy makers, legal practitioners and researchers from different Western, Central and Eastern European countries were organised.
The first expert meeting concentrated on the current situation in Central and Eastern Europe. The second expert meeting built on the first one and looked into what can concretely be done to give an impetus to the policy developments around restorative justice in CEE. The first seminar coincided with the third conference of the European Forum, and served to bring the Western and the Eastern experts together. The second seminar presented the results of the project and was an opportunity to discuss how the conclusions and recommendations of the project can be used in a practical way.

At the end of the two years a final publication was written which brings together and analyses the information collected during the entire project. You can find this final publication here.

AGIS 2003
This page was created with financial support from the AGIS Programme European Commission – Directorate General Justice and Home Affairs