Call for case studies: A victim-led criminal justice system for Europe

Then this is your chance to have your work and views published in the forthcoming book Gavrielides, T. (2014), A victim-led criminal justice system for Europe: Addressing the paradox, London: IARS Publications. We are looking for 10 case studies. Therefore, they will be accepted on a first come basis. Submission Deadline 15 July 2014. The book will be launched by the Justice Minister, Jeremy Wright, on 19-20 November 2014 at the international IARS conference “A Victim-led Criminal Justice System for Europe”.

We are looking for case studies illustrating restorative justice in practice. We are particularly interested in powerful examples that show the breadth of the restorative justice practice including direct and indirect mediation, family group conferencing, healing and sentencing circles, youth offending and community panels and community boards.

Once approved by the Editor, the cases will be published in Gavrielides, T. (2014), A victim-led criminal justice system for Europe: Addressing the paradox, London: IARS Publications.This is an edited, peer-reviewed Volume of original papers written by leading scholars in the fields of restorative justice, victimology and criminal justice. The project is carried out under the auspices of Independent Academic Research Studies (IARS), and as part of the EU funded “Restorative Justice in Europe” (RJE) project (EC Grant Agreement JUST/2011-2012/JPEN/AG/2951). RJE is a transnational two year project that started on 1st December 2012, and will facilitate the implementation of the Directive 2012/29/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 or as otherwise known “the Victims’ Directive”. The Directive establishes minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime, replacing Council Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA. The RJE focuses on the implementation of the restorative justice related articles.

This is a unique opportunity for victims, offenders and practitioners to communicate their work and thoughts to academia and policy internationally. Much has been written about the theory of restorative justice but only rarely its practices are illustrated and explained through real life examples.

Submission Guidelines

Case studies can be from anywhere in the world and will need to:

• be between 300 – 500 words
• explain clearly the conflict that had occurred, its location and date
• explain at which stage the practice took place, when and how it was initiated, how long it took and if possible how much it cost
• include a victim and an offender
• respect the principle of confidentiality and research ethics by not revealing the identity of those involved
• illustrate the outcome of the restorative process preferably for all parties: victims, offenders and community
• show why it is believed to be a good practice for victims and their rights, and why others should follow