Initiative of the Kingdom of Belgium with a view to the adoption of a Council Decision setting up a European network of national contact points for restorative justice
Date: 2002-10-08
Institutions: Belgium
Subjects: Belgium, cooperation policy, criminal liability, criminal procedure, information network, prevention of delinquency

C 242/20

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Official Journal of the European Communities

8.10.2002

II

(Preparatory Acts pursuant to Title VI of the Treaty on European Union)

Initiative of the Kingdom of Belgium with a view to the adoption of a Council Decision setting up
a European network of national contact points for restorative justice

(2002/C 242/09)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the European Union and in
particular the Article 34(2)(c),

Having regard to the initiative of the Kingdom of Belgium,

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament,

Whereas:

(1) Recommendation No R(85)11 of

the Committee of
Ministers of the Council of Europe on the position of
the victim in the framework of criminal
law and
procedure of 28 June 1985 recommends the governments
of the Member States to examine the possible advantages
of mediation and conciliation schemes.

(2) The United Nations Declaration of basic principles of
justice for victims of crime and abuse of power of 29
November 1985 calls for the use, where appropriate, of
informal mechanisms
the resolution of disputes,
including mediation, arbitration and customary justice
to facilitate conciliation and
or
redress for victims.

indigenous practices

for

(3) Recommendation No R(87)21 of

the Committee of
the Council of Europe on assistance to
Ministers of
victims and the prevention of victimisation of 17
September 1987 recommends the governments of
the
Member States to encourage experiments, whether on a
in mediation between the
national or a local basis,
offender and his victim and evaluate the results with
particular
the
victim are served.

reference to how far

the interests of

(4) The

1990 United Nations Minimum Rules
for
non-custodial measures stress the importance of greater
community involvement in the management of criminal
justice and the need to promote among offenders a sense
of responsibility towards their victims and towards society
as a whole.

(5) Recommendation No R(92)16 of

the Committee of
the Council of Europe on the European
Ministers of
Rules on community sanctions and measures considers
that sanctions and measures whose enforcement
takes
place in the community constitute important ways of
combating crime
effects of
imprisonment.

and to avoid negative

(6) The Vienna Action Plan, in point 19 thereof, states that
‘Procedural rules should respond to broadly the same
guarantees, ensuring that people will not be treated
unevenly according to the jurisdiction dealing with their
case’.

(7) The Resolution 1999/26 of 28 July 1999 of the Economic
and Social Council of the United Nations on Development
and implementation of mediation and restorative justice
measures in criminal justice calls upon the States, inter-
national organisations and other entities to exchange
information and experience on mediation and restorative
justice.

(8) The communication of the Commission to the European
the Council and the Economic and Social
Parliament,
Committee on Crime Victims in the European Union:
Reflections on standards and actions of 14 July 1999,
states that victim-offender mediation could be an alter-
native
criminal
solution to long and discouraging
in the interest of victims, making possible
procedures,
the compensation of damages or
lost
property outside a normal criminal procedure.

recovering of

of

(9) Recommendation No R(99)19 of

the Committee of
Ministers
concerning
Europe
mediation in penal matters sets out principles for the
Member States to consider when developing mediation
in penal matters.

the Council

of

(10) The Tampere European Council of 15 and 16 October
1999 determined in the Conclusion 30 that alternative,
created by the
extra-judicial procedures
Member States.

should be

(11) Resolution 2000/14 of 27 July 2000 of the Economic and
Social Council of the United Nations on basic principles
on the use of restorative justice programmes in criminal
matters calls upon the States to continue to exchange
information and experience on mediation and restorative
justice.

(12) The European Parliament Resolution of 15 June 2000 on
the Commission communication on crime victims in the
European Union: Reflections on standards and action (1),
states the importance of the development of the rights of
crime victims.

(1) OJ C 67, 1.3.2001, p. 304.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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in

of

on

the

victims

standing

(13) Council Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA of 15 March
2001
criminal
proceedings (1) states in Article 10 that Member States
are to seek to promote mediation in criminal cases for
offences which they consider appropriate for this sort of
measures and to ensure that any agreement between the
victim and the offender
such
mediation in criminal cases can be taken into account.
According to Article 17 thereof each Member State
shall bring into force laws, regulations and administrative
provisions to comply with the said Article 10 before 22
March of the year 2006.

reached in course of

resulted

in Decision 2001/427/JHA (2),

(14) The initiative of the French Republic and the Kingdom of
Sweden to set up a European crime prevention network,
are
which
excellent examples of how the Member States can
cooperate on a stable basis on certain topics. The
social
inclusion of mediation with juveniles
mediation in the
the
European crime prevention network proves the growing
interest in alternative ways of exercising criminal law.

first working programme of

and

(15) However,

it

should be

stressed that

the possible
preventive capacities of mediation in particular and of
restorative justice, in general are only one aspect of the
restorative justice, which
much broader approach of
applies to crime, criminal
justice
procedure as a whole. Restorative justice denotes a
broad approach in which material
and immaterial
reparation of
the disturbed relationship between the
the community and the offender constitutes a
victim,
general, guiding principle in the criminal justice process.

justice and criminal

Network national representatives shall ensure the proper
2.
functioning of the network in accordance with this Decision.

Article 2

Scope

For the purpose of this Decision, restorative justice refers to a
comprehensive view of the criminal justice process, in which
the needs of the victim are prioritised and offender account-
ability is emphasised in a positive manner and covers a body of
ideas that
to various forms of sanctioning and
conflict handling in the successive stages of or in connection
with the criminal justice process.

is relevant

Article 3

Objective of the network

The network shall contribute to developing, supporting and
promoting the various aspects of restorative justice within
the Member States as well as at the European Union level.
For this objective, legislative and logistic support to criminal
justice authorities is an important instrument.

Article 4

Tasks and activities

With a view to achieving the objective of Article 3,
network shall have in particular
activities and consequently it shall:

the
the following tasks and

(16) Although thus far restorative justice has mainly found
forms of mediation between
expression in different
victims and offenders (victim-offender mediation), other
methods are increasingly being applied, as for example
group
family
police,
conferencing. Governments,
justice agencies, specialised authorities, victim
criminal
aid and support services, offender aid services, researchers
and the public are all involved in this process.

(a) be an information point. To that end, the network shall
collect, analyse and evaluate information and data on
existing restorative justice practices and on their devel-
opment in the Member States,
in order to contribute to
the development of standards of best practices and to
future national and European initiatives. The
support
Network shall also assist the Council and Member States
with questionnaires on restorative justice practices;

(17) This

initiative was

taken in consultation with the
European Forum for victim-offender mediation and
restorative
a non-governmental organisation
experienced in the field of restorative justice,

justice,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

A European network of national contact points for
restorative justice

1.
A European network of national contact points for
restorative justice (hereinafter referred to as ‘the network’), is
hereby set up.

(1) OJ L 82, 22.3.2001, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 153, 8.6.2001, p. 1.

(b) develop mechanisms to distribute and to make available the
abovementioned information and data to authorities on a
national, regional, European and international level and to
other governmental or non-governmental organisations,
groups, networks or forums working in or interested in
the field of restorative justice;

(c)

facilitate mutual exchange of information, experience and
contacts between European, regional, national and local
authorities,
institutions, agencies, groups, networks and
individuals concerned with the topic of restorative justice;

(d) promote research on the topic of restorative justice and to
that aim the network shall contribute to identify and
develop the main areas
research in the field of
for
restorative justice;

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(e) contribute to identify and develop the main areas for
training and evaluation in the field of restorative justice;

These contact points shall include at least one represen-
3.
tative from the national authorities competent for restorative
justice in its many aspects.

(f) organise

conferences,

and other
activities to promote restorative justice practices and to
stimulate and improve the exchange of experience and
best practices;

seminars, meetings

4. Members
researchers,
restorative justice practitioners or other actors in the restorative
justice field as contact points.

States may

designate

also

(g) develop cooperation with applicant

countries,

third

countries and international organisations and bodies;

5. Member States shall ensure that researchers, restorative
justice practitioners and other actors in the restorative justice
field, such as local authorities and non-governmental organi-
sations, are involved through the designated contact points.

(h) provide its expertise to the European Parliament,

the
Council and to the Commission where necessary and
upon request, with a view to assisting them in matters
concerning restorative justice;

(i)

report to the Council on its activities each year, through
the competent working bodies, and indicate the areas for
priority action in its working programme for the following
year. The Council shall take note of and endorse the report
and forward it to the European Parliament.

The concrete interpretation, fulfilment and development of the
tasks and activities mentioned in this article will be subject to
and will depend on the voluntary contributions of the Member
States.

Article 5

Cooperation

the

and

level of

in performing its

the restorative justice development,

the inherent community orientation and the
Because of
the
grass-root
tasks and activities as
network shall,
described in the Article 4, pay in particular attention to the
exchanges with
cooperation
stimulation
non-governmental organisations working in the
field of
restorative justice. To enable the network to achieve its aims
in the most efficient and valuable way, the network can decide
those
to call upon the know-how and experience of
non-governmental organisations working in the
field of
restorative justice and even decide to cooperate in a more
structured way.

of

6.
Each Member State shall ensure that its contact points
have sufficient knowledge of at least one other official language
of the European Union, to facilitate the practical operation of
the network and in particular the contacts with the other
contact points.

Article 7

Functioning

1.

The network shall hold its first meeting on . . .

2.
The network shall meet at least once every six months,
on the invitation of the Presidency-in-Office of the Council. A
the Member State which is holding the
representative of
Presidency of
the
network national representatives meeting.

the Council at

shall chair

time,

that

The network may decide to confer to a national contact

3.
point the secretariat of the network.

The network national representatives shall decide on the
In

including a financial plan.

4.
network's annual programme,
particular, they shall decide:

— the priority fields to be examined with a view to an action,
hereby bearing in mind Articles 10 and 17 of the Council
Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA,

Article 6

Composition of the network

— the main specific actions to be carried out (conferences,
seminars, research programmes, training programmes),

1.
The network shall consist of contact points designated by
each Member State. The Commission and candidate countries
for accession to the European Communities may also designate
a contact point.

— the creation, the structure and the development of an elec-

tronic information exchange system and a web site.

Each Member State shall designate three contact points, at

2.
most.

The national representatives shall also draw up the annual
report on the activities of the network. They shall draw up
their Rules of Procedure, to be adopted by unanimity.

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The financing of
5.
decision of the Council.

the network may be subject

to a

Article 9

The Decision shall take effect on the day of its adoption.

Article 8

Evaluation

Done at Brussels on . . .

The Council shall evaluate the activities and the working of the
this
network within the three years of
Decision.

the adoption of

For the Council

The President

. . .