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Date: November 22, 2024 Fri

Time: 11:46 am

Results for mediation

8 results found

Author: Brown, Alison P.

Title: The Role of Mediation in Tackling Neighbour Disputes and Anti-Social Behaviour

Summary: The aims of the study are to provide evidence about mediation and alternative approaches to the resolution of neighbour disputes, and to draw conclusions about the effectiveness and costs of mediation compared to legal remedies such as actions for repossession and anti-social behaviour orders. An additional objective was to investigate the reasons for refusing to take part in mediation. In the study, the main research methods used were analysis of 100 cases from two community mediation services and two local authority mediation services, and 50 legal proceedings cases (eviction, anti-social behaviour order and interdict) from local authorities. In addition, parties to mediation were interviewed to compare their view of outcomes with those recorded by mediation services. Housing officers who make referrals to mediation, and a small number of people who had opted not to take part in mediation, were also interviewed. The main methodological challenges were the difficulty in obtaining data from environmental health, police and housing services, and to a lesser extent from mediation services; the reasons for this included data protection considerations, and lack of time recording. Specialist investigation teams provided the most robust data, but few areas of Scotland have such teams therefore these costs may not be typical. In general, the mediation cases examined involved mildly anti-social behaviour or serious personality or lifestyle clashes. In most cases, the main presenting issue was noise, either noise of domestic appliances, children, dogs, and other 'normal' living, or noise of parties and loud music. A smaller number of disputes originated in disputes between children, with which parents had become involved, or disputes over boundaries and upkeep of common areas. Cases remained live in mediation services generally for between two weeks and two months. Half of the cases included at least one non-council-tenant party. In 61 percent of cases, the outcome recorded by the mediation service was either full or partial agreement or some improvement in the situation. In just under half of these cases (in 28 percent of all cases), the mediation service recorded an agreement on all presenting issues. Mediators themselves, however, suggest that there are likely to be positive outcomes in terms of changed awareness, which cannot easily be measured, even in 'unsuccessful' cases. The profile of interventions, outcomes and costs varied significantly between mediation services. From the perspective of participants, however, outcomes recorded at the close of a case are not necessarily a reliable guide to the longer-term outcomes. Although outcomes are not always worse than those recorded, the proportion of positive outcomes recorded by some mediation services appears not necessarily to reflect the experience of participants. Participants' views demonstrate some of the challenges facing mediation, but show a generally positive view of the process, even where it does not bring the desired outcome. A number of participants, however, have found the mediation process more traumatic than might be expected. All legal action cases studied involved serious and protracted anti-social behaviour, often including fighting, verbal abuse, swearing and damage to property. In most cases, it involved the perpetrator and visitors or family members, and in all cases it affected more than one neighbour. In many cases, there was a history of criminal convictions and/or mental health and/or alcohol-related problems. These cases in general were quite different to those found in mediation services. The seriousness of the behaviour was reflected in the length of time from decision to take legal proceedings to an outcome; this was usually several months and often one or two years. The majority of perpetrators were local authority tenants. In terms of outcomes of legal cases, it is particularly difficult to assess the long-term outcomes of evictions and transfers, which were the short-term outcome in half of the cases. In the short term, several cases were 'solved' by the perpetrator moving away, being imprisoned, or being offered a community care package. In only two cases were proceedings dropped due to evidence of improvement in the situation. The majority of anti-social behaviour orders examined were breached, some of which breaches were then prosecuted. From the 100 mediation cases studied, the average cost of handling a case was 121, which rose to 204 when face-to-face or shuttle mediation was involved; and the maximum case cost was 484. Costs for local authority mediation services were, on average, slightly lower, but this reflects a higher proportion of cases where no contact was made with parties to the dispute. From the 50 legal cases, the average cost was 3,546, with a range from 339 to 13,692 for a very complex eviction case. These are net costs, however, and would be considerably higher if overheads were included. Average costs of ASBOs and repossession actions were approximately 2,250 and 9,000 respectively. These figures should be read in the context of the diverse organisational arrangements found; that is, the costs depend on the proportion of work carried out by a specialist team with its own budget, or by housing managers, where costs are likely to be absorbed. In terms of unwillingness to take part in mediation, or to see the process through to a conclusion, the main reasons given by refusers themselves were: unwillingness to engage with the other party; fear of reprisals; belief that the other party did or would manipulate the process or the mediators; fear of an escalation of the dispute; and the desire for a definitive judgement on their case. Lack of knowledge about mediation or of confidence in mediation services did not appear to be a significant factor. Legal action costs far more than mediation, due to the seriousness of disputes, but also to the procedures required in order to prepare a case for possible court action. There are local variations in the amount of evidence generally thought to be necessary for a strong case. Although mediation will not be sufficient to deal with serious anti-social behaviour, which is associated with alcohol and drug abuse, mental health problems or criminal activity, its cost effectiveness suggests that there is considerable scope to extend mediation in the area of neighbour disputes.

Details: Edinburgh: Scottish Executive Social Research, 2003. 58p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 21, 2011 at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/47176/0025566.pdf

Year: 2003

Country: United Kingdom

URL: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/47176/0025566.pdf

Shelf Number: 120837

Keywords:
Antisocial Behavior (Scotland)
Dispute Settlement
Mediation
Nuisance Behavior and Disorder

Author: United Nations Development Programme

Title: Informal Justice Systems: Charting a Course for Human Rights-Based Engagement

Summary: until recently, informal justice systems (ijs) were relatively invisible in development partner-assisted justice interventions. yet, ijs form a key part of individuals’ and communities’ experience of justice and the rule of law, with over 80 percent of disputes resolved through informal justice mechanisms in some countries.1 ijs may be more accessible than formal mechanisms and may have the potential to provide quick, relatively inexpensive and culturally relevant remedies. given this central role and increasing government and partnering donor interest in ijs, it is key to build an understanding of ijs and how best to engage with them for the strengthening of human rights, the rule of law and access to justice. in many countries, there is a prevalence of ijs, which demands that governments and development partners take these systems more seriously, especially with regard to ijs and women’s and children’s rights. this does not mean that development organizations should promote ijs at the expense of a functioning unitary legal order or that they should oppose the existence of ijs. rather, it is recognition that ijs are an empirical reality, albeit a complicated one. at the same time, growing numbers of countries are requesting un assistance to engage with ijs and strengthen their ability to provide justice and legal protection. the un’s approach to engagement on rule of law and access to justice is as an effort to ensure international norms and standards for all who come into contact with the formal and informal justice system, including victims, witnesses or alleged offenders. ijs are complex and deeply varied; many drawing their normative structures and legitimacy from the local communities and society in which they operate. the un does not presume that engagement with ijs can adopt a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. like all legal mechanisms, ijs function within changing societies and communities and can be responsive to the particular individual circumstances of a case in the application of cultural norms. the obligation to respect, protect and fulfil human rights, including through the provision of justice and legal remedies, extends to formal and informal systems alike. Both types of justice systems can violate human rights, reinforce discrimination, and neglect principles of procedural fairness. ijs in many contexts deal with issues that have a direct bearing on the best interests of women and children, such as issues of customary marriage, custody, dissolution of marriage, inheritance and property rights. the operative questions surrounding ijs and the rights of women and children are significant. While it is especially important to note that the structures, procedures and substantive decisions of some ijs neither safeguard nor promote women’s rights and children’s rights, the existence of ijs does not of itself contravene international human rights principles. indeed, ijs can provide avenues for the delivery of justice and the protection of human rights, particularly where formal justice systems lack capacity, and ijs can enjoy widespread community legitimacy and support. the study seeks to identify how engagement with ijs can build greater respect and protection for human rights. it highlights the considerations that development partners should have when assessing whether to implement programmes involving ijs, the primary consideration being that engagement with the ijs neither directly nor inadvertently reinforces existing societal or structural discrimination – a consideration that applies to working with formal justice systems as well. the study also examines the value of ijs in offering, in certain contexts, flexible structures and processes, cost-effectiveness and outreach to grassroots communities.

Details: New York: UNDP, UN Women: UNICEF, 2013. 398p.

Source: Internet Resourse: Accessed April 6, 2013 at: http://www.unwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Informal-Justice-Systems-Charting-a-course-for-human-rights-based-engagement-Full-Study.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: International

URL: http://www.unwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Informal-Justice-Systems-Charting-a-course-for-human-rights-based-engagement-Full-Study.pdf

Shelf Number: 128305

Keywords:
Dispute Resolution
Human Rights
Informal Justice Systems
Mediation

Author: Cockayne, James

Title: Strengthening mediation to deal with criminal agendas

Summary: A growing proportion of armed conflicts nowadays do not only involve political and ideological agendas but criminal ones. While armed conflict mediators have extensive experience of dealing with armed groups in various contexts of political and ideological conflicts, there is often a lack of attention towards addressing criminal agendas, making it a blind spot of mediation. In Strengthening mediation to deal with criminal agendas, James Cockayne takes an in-depth look at ways in which mediators have addressed, or not, criminal agendas, in peace processes, and the potentially spoiling effect that ignoring them may have had on those processes. Through the review of several peace processes in which criminal agendas have been directly tackled including gang truces in El Salvador and community violence reduction cases in Haiti and Brazil, Cockayne highlights how the practice of mediation can adjust to take criminal agendas into account. While mediation is by no means the only way to address and deal with such agendas, it can be a useful and complementary tool to do so. Cockayne also puts forward examples of peace processes in which criminal agendas were not taken into account and how this has contributed to spoiling those processes, for example through a return to conflict, or the empowerment of criminal agendas through disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration processes. Cockayne also offers recommendations on ways to ensure that the fundamentals of mediation, such as preparedness, inclusive ownership, legal frameworks and impartiality, are respected despite the presence of criminal agendas.

Details: Oslo: Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, 2013. 28p.

Source: Internet Resource: Oslo Forum Papers: Accessed April 25, 2016 at: http://www.hdcentre.org/uploads/tx_news/Strengthening-mediation-to-deal-with-criminal-agendas.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: International

URL: http://www.hdcentre.org/uploads/tx_news/Strengthening-mediation-to-deal-with-criminal-agendas.pdf

Shelf Number: 138803

Keywords:
Armed Conflict
Gangs
Mediation
Violence
Violent Crime

Author: Laxminarayan, Malini

Title: Accessibility and Initiation of Restorative Justice

Summary: The project Accessibility and Initiation of Restorative Justice developed in response to the understanding that while restorative justice mechanisms provide a positive means of dealing with crime, both for the victim and the offender, such procedures are not often being utilised. Both international and national legislation on restorative justice has emerged in the past years, providing countries with a framework to look to as a guide for the implementation of restorative justice. Yet accessibility issues have existed for the past 20 years, hindering a greater number of cases from being dealt with through restorative justice approaches. This project aims to identify these barriers and investigate how to best deal with them, from a comparative perspective. The report answers two primary questions. First, when and under what conditions are restorative justice processes accessible to citizens? Factors related to accessibility include those that impede or assist parties in getting to a restorative procedure (i.e. those that can increase or prevent referrals). Therefore, important topics include the referral procedure, namely at what moment in time a referral is made and by whom parties are referred. A framework is designed based on international legislation, access to justice literature and existing empirical research on the topic. Subsequently, 10 factors are determined to conceptualise accessibility and are the focus of the empirical research: availability, legislation, exclusion criteria, awareness, attitudes, cooperation, trust, institutionalisation, good practices and costs. Second, how are restorative justice processes initiated under different jurisdictions and in different models? Factors related to initiation include those that stimulate or discourage beginning a restorative procedure by the parties, and are related to the moment a victim or offender is invited or informed about restorative justice. There are several important elements to consider when informing parties about the option to participate in a restorative justice programme. These include the level of influence and authority of the initiator, the information provided, the mode of the offer, the language of the offer and the frequency of the offer. To answer these questions, empirical research was conducted comprising several methods. A questionnaire was disseminated to both referral bodies and restorative justice practitioners to better understand barriers in their own countries. It was observed that numbers of cases are limited, ranging most often between a few hundred to roughly 10,000 per country. Exceptions included countries such as Austria, Germany and Finland (representing countries with higher cases). Perhaps unsurprisingly, all participants from the 17 countries who completed the questionnaire appeared to report similar issues. Most often mentioned was the lack of awareness and punitive attitudes that limited a greater number of referrals to restorative justice. Qualitative interviews were also conducted to examine the different initiation models that could be found in each of the five countries: Croatia, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania. Interviews with 'initiators,' namely those who had some type of role in informing or inviting victims and/or offenders to participate in restorative justice illustrated the diverse methods used and the issues that arose during the initiation phase. Approaches included initiation through letters, phone calls, and face-to-face conversations. It may be the case, for example, that the judge adjourns a case while a probation officer informs the offender about the possibility for restorative justice (e.g., Ireland); employees of the prosecution service invite the juvenile offender to discuss how they will deal with his or her case, where one possible scenario is that he will be offered to participate in victim-offender mediation (e.g., Croatia); a selection table will filter out cases and send a letter to the parties that qualify, who may then get in touch with the mediator (e.g., the Netherlands); or police, prosecutors and judges may inform parties where they can go to get more information from the mediation service, often through information points in courts or leaflets (e.g., Romania). Interviews with victims and offenders were conducted to examine their perspective on the way the offer was made. Information was gathered on coercion, authority, manner of the offer, awareness, language of the offer, dealing with concerns and timing. It was found that, in some instances, offenders felt they had little choice about participating; the positive approach of the initiator had a direct influence on their decision to participate; parties were often unaware of restorative justice before they were provided with such information; support and flexibility when dealing with the parties' concerns was influential in the decision to participate in restorative justice programmes. The letter that is sent to victims and offenders was also given attention in the empirical research. Several aspects were identified as important in the letter: making the language easy to understand; avoiding certain terms (e.g., mediation); personalising the benefits of restorative justice; recognising the victim’s harm; being authoritative; making the letter interactive; providing examples of successful relevant mediations. Furthermore, a small-scale experiment with Criminology students examined whether two aspects in particular – authority and social norming – were associated with one’s decision to participate. The findings concluded that social norming, or the belief that similar others are involved in some type of behaviour (i.e., participating in mediation), does impact the likelihood of participating in mediation. The comparative nature of the project allowed for an assessment of different models, in addition to an examination of good practices. It is evident that countries adopt different approaches in their procedures surrounding restorative justice. Despite these differences, all countries face issues and aim to increase their referral procedures. Without making both the public and referral bodies aware of restorative justice, however, accessibility will remain limited. Attitudes also must change, where a restorative philosophy can be adopted in the best case scenario, and at the least legal authorities must begin to believe in the advantages of restorative justice. Undeniably, these two factors – attitudes and awareness – are largely intertwined. Greater awareness is likely to lead to more positive attitudes towards restorative justice. Furthermore, other elements such as cooperation, costs, legislation, and exclusion criteria must be given consideration.

Details: Leuven: European Forum for Restorative Justice, 2014. 190p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 7, 2016 at: http://euforumrj.org/assets/upload/Accessibility_and_Initiation_of_RJ_website.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Europe

URL: http://euforumrj.org/assets/upload/Accessibility_and_Initiation_of_RJ_website.pdf

Shelf Number: 145396

Keywords:
Mediation
Restorative Justice
Victim-Offender Mediation

Author: Adler, Joanna R.

Title: Evaluation of the Forgiveness Project within prisons

Summary: The Forgiveness Project (TFP) is a UK based charity that uses real stories to explore how ideas around forgiveness, reconciliation and conflict resolution can have a positive impact on people's lives. One aspect of the charity's work is a programme run within prisons, targeted at the early stages of a sentence. TFP describe their prison programme as an intensive, group based intervention that encourages prisoners to explore concepts of forgiveness and reparation in a framework that fosters greater accountability and responsibility. Every course is co-facilitated by at least one ex-offender and a victim/survivor of serious crime. The intervention can be seen as being restorative and preparatory; those who take part in the programme will tend to be relatively early on in their sentence. TFP centres on the personal testimonies of both victims and perpetrators of crime and violence. TFP is unlike many other restorative initiatives in that it has no political or religious affiliation and TFP's prison programme is similarly secular in its approach. TFP aims to facilitate changes in attitude and thinking styles of offenders. That is, to encourage prisoners and young offenders in finding their own pathways to change. In finding those pathways, they may draw on many different resources and insights. These could include personal, communal, spiritual or religious beliefs that they may have, whether or not they have previously seen those beliefs as relevant to their offending behaviours. TFP run programmes via both education and psychology units. The emphasis on individual change is also intended to differentiate TFP from prison or National Offenders Management Service interventions. This person centred, facilitative but non prescriptive approach was adopted with the intention that prisoners and young offenders would be more responsive to the intervention than they may be to other, more standardised, manual based programmes. ii Design and Participant Information This evaluation was commissioned to build on a previous qualitative examination of the work of TFP within prisons and to provide information that would begin to evaluate its impact. The aims included consideration of the extent to which TFP is meeting its objectives and assessment of whether adequate safeguards are in place for the young offenders and adult prisoners who participate in the intervention. We adopted a triangulated approach using quantitative and qualitative methodologies with: 1. A prospective, longitudinal sample of male young offenders and older male prisoners and matched control groups (a total of 20 research and 20 control group participants across two institutions, followed up over 3 months). 2. A sample of 7 prison staff drawn from the same two institutions. 3. A retrospective, cross-sectional sample of 4 adult, male prisoners from a third institution. Our key hypotheses for this evaluation were: H1: That TFP will encourage greater awareness of victims and victim empathy. H2: That TFP will encourage enhanced cognitive processing and improved thinking skills. H3: That participants will face psycho-social challenges that result in additional needs, currently unmet. These needs include increased anxiety, challenges to self-esteem and increased negative attitudes.

Details: London: Middlesex University, 2012. 87p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 7, 2016 at: http://www.thebromleytrust.org.uk/Indexhibit/files/Restore%20evaluation%20final%20report.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: United Kingdom

URL: http://www.thebromleytrust.org.uk/Indexhibit/files/Restore%20evaluation%20final%20report.pdf

Shelf Number: 150549

Keywords:
Mediation
Prisons
Restorative Justice
Victim-Offender Mediation

Author: Drapeau, Sylvie

Title: PréCrimAdo Program

Summary: In recent years, three youth centres (Québec, Chaudière–Appalaches and Montérégie) and a team of researchers from Laval University collaborated to examine the results of the PréCrimAdo Program (preventing the criminalization of high-risk adolescents). The program strives to prevent the criminalization of high-risk adolescents by implementing an intervention based on the mediation approach with a category of youth particularly at risk of engaging in a criminal trajectory, namely, youth aged 12 to 15 who have been reported under Section 38(f) (serious behavioural disturbance) of the Quebec Youth Protection Act. The tested approach relies on a negotiation process that is based on the interests of the participants. It focuses on identifying the participants' needs and choice of options, and leads to the proposal of a fair agreement that is satisfactory to all parties. This interest-based negotiation process is one in a range of approaches to alternative dispute resolution, and more specifically, mediation-based approaches. Evaluative research seeks to better understand the processes and effects of the intervention program by looking at the program's implementation from a youth-protection context specifically, and by gauging the extent to which the effects of the program are achieved. This research also includes a cost-benefit evaluation of the program.

Details: Ottawa: National Crime Prevention Centre, Public Safety Canada, 2014. 6p.

Source: Internet Resource: Evaluation Summaries ES-2014-39: Accessed February 13, 2017 at: https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/2014-ES-39/2014-es-39-eng.pdf

Year: 2014

Country: Canada

URL: https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/2014-ES-39/2014-es-39-eng.pdf

Shelf Number: 147291

Keywords:
At-Risk Youth
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Delinquency Prevention
Interventions
Mediation

Author: Maryland. Administrative Office of the Courts

Title: Impact of Mediation on Criminal Misdemeanor Cases

Summary: In several counties in Maryland, the State's Attorney's Office (SAO) refers misdemeanor criminal cases to mediation prior to the scheduled court date. Generally, cases which are referred to mediation are those in which there is an ongoing relationships between the participants which lead to the alleged crime and the SAO believes that these underlying issues could be better resolved in mediation rather than through the standard court process. In those counties where such a referral process exists, SAO staff screen cases to consider if they are appropriate for mediation, including screening out cases in which participants may not be able to speak for themselves without fear of retaliation (such as in some domestic violence situations). The SAO may refer the case to an independent community mediation center or, in two counties, in-house mediators may mediate the dispute. Generally, if participants are both satisfied with the results of the mediation, the SAO will either nolle prosequi (formally not prosecute) or put the case on the inactive docket (stet) from which it will close within a year if there is no additional action. Often, the participants do not need to show up again for their court hearing if they resolve the case in mediation. This report explores the impact in terms of the cost to the court system for cases which are referred to mediation compared to cases which are not referred to mediation, in the short and long term. This report also explores the impact on the participants report regarding how the situation has worked out for them. In order to compare the impact, it is necessary to have both a group of cases that were mediated (the Mediation Group) and a group of cases that are similar but that were never offered mediation (the comparison group). It is also important to have significant information about those cases so that a legitimate comparison can be done, which controls for the many factors which could result in the differences in the outcomes.

Details: Annapolis, MD: Administrative Office of the Courts, 2016. 64p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 30, 2017 at: http://mdcourts.gov/courtoperations/pdfs/criminalcourtimpactreport.pdf

Year: 2016

Country: United States

URL: http://mdcourts.gov/courtoperations/pdfs/criminalcourtimpactreport.pdf

Shelf Number: 147512

Keywords:
Dispute Resolution
Dispute Settlement
Mediation

Author: Shapland, Joanna

Title: Developing restorative policing: using the evidence base to inform the delivery of restorative justice and improve engagement with victims. Learning lessons from Belgium and Northern Ireland

Summary: Restorative justice (RJ) is well established in Belgium where interventions are widely available for both adults and juveniles with regard to both pre-court and post-court provision. There is a particularly well-embedded recent history of restorative justice in the Flemish-speaking region of Belgium, most notably in the city of Leuven dating back (at least) to the late 1980s. With the support of the Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven), a scheme of restorative mediation was set up with the explicit focus on providing restorative justice for more serious crimes where the public prosecutor had already made a decision to prosecute. It was felt that much of the international success in restorative justice - from New Zealand and Australia notably - had focused more directly on less serious crime and on juveniles. So, the aims of the new initiative in Leuven at the time were: first, to elaborate and develop a model of (victim/offender) restorative mediation in cases of adult serious crimes; and secondly, to explore the implications for the wider criminal justice system of the operation of the two different processes; namely restorative justice on the one hand and criminal prosecution on the other hand. In particular, the scheme's proponents were interested in the ways in which restorative principles might influence and prompt key actors - notably judges, prosecutors and police - 'to rethink in some way the objectives and rationales of the criminal justice system' (according to one of the KU Leuven proponents interviewed). This initial approach has influenced many of the developments, informing policy and practice both within and beyond Leuven, over the ensuing years. Examples of this include the establishment of a pilot project in 1998 in six prisons (in collaboration with the universities of Leuven and Liege) (Robert and Peters 2003; Aertsen 2005). In 2000, the Minister of Justice decided to implement the model across all prisons in Belgium supported by the appointment of a full-time 'restorative justice advisor' in each prison operating at the level of prison management to develop a culture, skills and programme to support victims' needs and restorative responses. Similarly, in the field of juvenile justice, the university was instrumental in establishing an action research conferencing pilot project in 2000 in four locations. The pilot was based on the experiences of the New Zealand model of Family Group Conferencing, but as well as the above mentioned adult scheme, it focused specifically upon more serious crimes (Vanfraechem 2005; Vanfraechem and Walgrave 2004). In many ways, Leuven has been a generator and beacon of good practice in the field of restorative justice over a number of years, with models of practice developed in Leuven being adopted and adapted elsewhere in the country. The role of the university has been quite pivotal in this, serving as an international hub of research and theorisation in the field of restorative justice and as a key centre for the diffusion of evidence-based practice and application of practical innovations. For instance, the European Forum for Restorative Justice, which promotes the application of restorative practices across Europe, has its base and its secretariat in the Department of Criminal Law and Criminology at KU Leuven (since it was established in 2000). The university has played an important role in stimulating practice-based and policy innovations as well as informing citywide multi-agency partnerships in promoting restorative approaches. In 1996 the mediation service of Leuven (Bemiddelingsdienst arrondissement Leuven - BAL) was established as a cooperation between the office of the Counsel for the Prosecution (the public prosecutors), the police, the city board of Leuven (municipal authority), the board of lawyers, the local Judicial Welfare Service and the probation service (working with offenders), Victim Support, a NGO juvenile justice service provider (then Oikoten, but subsequently Alba), a mediation service provider for adults (then Suggnome but subsequently renamed Moderator), the prison service and the university. Consequently, developments in Leuven have benefited from this longstanding history of inter-organisational collaboration informed by an acute awareness of the evidence-base and conceptual clarity regarding the principles of restorative justice.

Details: Sheffield, UK: Centre for Criminological Research, University of Sheffield, 2017. 49p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 5, 2017 at: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.714948!/file/Comparative-report-publication.pdf

Year: 2017

Country: Europe

URL: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.714948!/file/Comparative-report-publication.pdf

Shelf Number: 147561

Keywords:
Mediation
Police Training
Restorative Justice
Victim-Offender Mediation