TO THE ISSUE OF THE STATE OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE IN UKRAINE AT THE PRESENT STAGE
Authors: Karmazina K. Yu. Karmazina , Khrapitska M. O. 
Published: October 2021

The purpose of the article is to study the roles of the prosecutor and the lawyer in reconciling between the victim and the suspect (accused) in Ukraine at the present time and to examine the possibility of increasing their participation in the reconciliation between the parties in the future. Reconciliation between victim and suspect (accused) in committing of a criminal offense as the centerpiece of the restorative justice in Ukraine today takes place outside of criminal proceedings, but it may have important substantive and procedural consequences in it. It can be considered as a mitigating circumstance in sentencing and even give rise to release the suspect (accused) from criminal liability. With the importance of reconciliation not only for the victim and the suspect, but also for the state, the question about scope of prosecutor`s powers as a procedural chief in criminal proceedings remains relevant. Such powers must be effective for facilitation such reconciliation, and at the same time they must prevent the unjustly avoidance of liability. It is also equally important to clarify the role of lawyers and the system of free secondary legal aid in restorative justice in Ukraine. The authors analyzed in the paper the normative regulation of the prosecutor's and the lawyer`s powers related to the reconciliation between the parties and the mechanism for the application of the restorative justice for its sufficiency and ability to provide the necessary mechanisms for implementing the provisions of the law. The authors found such gaps and differences in law regulation that hinder the development of conciliation practices in national criminal proceedings. The authors also examined the data of official state registers and revealed negative trends in the participation of the prosecutor in taking the procedural decisions based on the successful reconciliation between the victim and the suspect (accused). This gives reason to claim that the prosecutor's participation in reconciling between the victim and the suspect (accused) currently does not take into account neither the interests of the parties nor the state's interests in reducing the workload on the judicial and penitentiary systems and resolving other issues that accompany the existing punitive approach. In view of this, the authors proposes to make a number of changes to national legislation in order to eliminate those legal gaps that negatively affect the implementation of rules that guarantee the right to reconciliation and determine the admission of its positive results during making a final decision by court. In addition, the authors also emphasizes the necessity and practical feasibility of introducing a new model of the prosecutor`s participation in reconciling between the victim and suspect (accused) and giving him the right to initiate mediation with the consent of the parties. Such rules will also require the establishment of some additional provisions that will form a comprehensive implementation mechanism and serve as a guarantee of the interests of the victim and suspect (accused). As an example the authors used the rules of Criminal Procedure Act of the Republic of Slovenia. The authors also explored the main provisions and first results of The Pilot Project «Restorative Program for Juveniles Suspected of Committing a Criminal Offense». This project is the first attempt to expand the prosecutor's involvement in reconciling between the victim and the suspect (accused). The authors made conclusions about the real state of restorative justice in Ukraine at the present stage and the role of lawyers in it, taking into account the analysis of unique data collected from the Regional Centers for Free Secondary Legal Aid in Odesa, Mykolaiv and Kherson regions.