Key Questions on Victim-Offender Mediation

Source: (2002) In, Beata Czarnecka-Dzialuk and Dobroncha Wojcik, eds., Juvenile Offender-Victim Mediation. Warszawa: Oficyna Naukowa. Pp. 125-132.

This book derives from a conference in Poland in 1997 on victim-offender mediation in cases involving juvenile offenders. In the course of the conference, participants considered many questions about such mediation. In this chapter Martin Wright identifies and responds to a number of those key questions. They cover the following matters: ensuring voluntary participation in mediation; mediation standards and codes of conduct; procedural protections for the rights of victims and offenders; the role of the police and prosecution in initiating mediation; the role of judge in mediation; compensation or reparation by the offender with respect to sentencing; the role and qualifications of the mediator; the role of the young offender’s parents; and interaction with other agencies.