The programs of restorative justice

• In Event: RJ country developments

Abstract

Restorative justice programs represent an alternative approach to solving crime in which the primary focus is on restoring broken relationships between offender, victim and community. Programs include mediation, community and family group conferences, community decision-making circles, and many others. The essence of these programs is to support the offender's accountability for their actions, enable victims to express their feelings and needs, reach an agreement on compensation or restitution, and, not least, reduce the rate of recidivism. These programs allow dialogue between all stakeholders, seeking to foster mutual understanding and support community healing. They are flexible and their application can be seen in minor property crimes, while controversial, but not excluded, is their use in cases of violent and vicious crime. The aim of the present project is therefore to analyse the different restorative justice programmes in terms of their use in foreign countries. By analysing individual programmes, the aim of the project is to assess the need for their implementation in the Slovak Republic. An important part of the project will also identify the challenges faced by these programmes, including the need for trained facilitators and appropriate case selection. The results of the project should provide recommendations for improving existing programmes and suggestions for expanding their use in the Slovak Republic. The intention is also to raise awareness of the benefits of the programmes for the victim, the offender and the wider community.
This paper was supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under the Contract no. APVV-23-0645.

Authors

• Tomáš Strémy, Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Law

• Radovan Blažek, Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Law