Implementing family group conferences in Belgium

Source: (2003) In, Lode Walgrave, ed., Repositioning Restorative Justice. Devon: Willan Publishing. Pp. 313-327.

In recent years, family group conferencing (FGC) has begun to be implemented in Belgium. Noting this, Inge Vanfraechem points to differences between common law and legalistic systems of justice. Her contention is that types or models of conferencing may therefore differ from one justice system to another. In this regard, she highlights the nature of the Belgian model of FGC in the particular context of the country’s legalistic system of justice. To explore all of this, Vanfraechem discusses different types of family group conferencing as seen in various countries; the development, legal framework, and process of conferencing in Belgium; peculiarities of the Belgian model; and prospects for conferencing in Belgium.