International Legal Background

Of great importance for the development and implementation of restorative justice in Europe has been the work of the Council of Europe and the European Union. As the United Nations adopted its United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Resolutions on restorative justice in 2000 and 2002, the Council of Europe published its Recommendation on Mediation in Penal Matters in 1999. The latter contained the basic principles on how mediation (and restorative justice in general) can be organised and offered in a proper way. While this Recommendation (and a series of related Council of Europe Recommendations) helped various countries in Europe to build a sound practice of victim-offender mediation both in juvenile justice and adult criminal law, the Council of Europe also supported the development of mediation in some countries by offering training for legal professionals and other practitioners. More recently, the revised Council of Europe Recommendation (CM/Rec(2018)8) concerning restorative justice in criminal matters, besides providing a definition of ‘restorative justice’, elaborates in more detail the general and basic principles for restorative justice practice while also explaining how restorative principles can be integrated within the daily work of criminal justice staff and agencies.

At the level of the European Union, two legal instruments were adopted to support victims’ rights and victim policies throughout Europe in general, and wherein also mediation and restorative justice, serving the needs of victims, are promoted: Council Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA on the standing of victims in criminal proceedings, and Directive 2012/29/EU of the European Parliament and Council establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime. It goes without saying that these binding legal initiatives have pushed various EU member states to adopt legislation on restorative justice. In 2020, nearly each member state of the EU has adopted a legal basis for restorative justice, be it in varied ways.  

Learn more about international documents promoting restorative justice →