Mapping Restorative Justice: Developments in 25 European Countries

Source: (2004) Leuven, Belgium: European Forum for Victim-Offender Mediation and Restorative Justice.

In 2001, the Home Office in London published An International Review of Restorative Justice by David Miers. Miers compared and contrasted the principle features of restorative justice provision in sixteen European and common law jurisdictions. In that one of its objectives is to the promote the international exchange of information, the European Forum for Victim-Offender Mediation and Restorative Justice obtained permission from the Home Office to keep the review up to date. This book, edited by David Miers and Jolien Willemsens, provides that update and expands the review to twenty five countries in Europe. Of the twenty five countries, full accounts of restorative justice are given for seventeen: Austria; Belgium; Czech Republic; Denmark; England and Wales; Finland; France; Germany; Italy; Luxembourg; Netherlands; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Slovenia; Spain; and Sweden. Short accounts of restorative justice are given for the following eight countries: Albania; Bulgaria; Hungary; Iceland; Ireland; Moldova; Scotland; and Ukraine. The structure of the accounts covers this information: legal base; scope; implementation; evaluation; contact address; published material. The book overall contains the descriptive accounts of each jurisdiction’s provision; analysis of the principal features of the legal base, scope, and implementation; discussion of the findings in terms of the wider evaluation of restorative justice and victim-offender mediation; and useful appendices.