RESTORATIVE JUSTICE AND MEDIATION IN PENAL MATTERS – A STOCK-TAKING OF LEGAL ISSUES, IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES AND OUTCOMES IN THE MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

The project "Restorative Justice and Mediation in Penal Matters – a Stock-Taking of Legal Issues, Implementation Strategies and Outcomes in the Member States of the European Union" aims to take stock of restorative justice programmes/strategies that are in place or in planning in a total of 37 European countries (in terms of legislative provisions, organisational structures, implementation strategies, respective Professional or judicial training , inter – agency cooperation strategies, practice of delivery, effectiveness of interventions, the nature of outcomes and what determines whether an outcome is a) effective and b) restorative, to name but a few aspects) with a view to providing an up-to-date overview of restorative approaches in Europe; identifying good practices; investigating the consideration of relevant international instruments in national implementations; informing existing instruments with a view to confirming or amending them based on the findings of the project; and/or informing the drafting of new instruments, principles and guidelines for effective and desirable implementation strategies that take into account experiences, lessons learned and research from all over Europe in all forms of restorative justice. It is thus envisaged that the findings of the project shall assist in the harmonisation of criminal justice in Europe and inform an EU strategy for spreading and implementing effective restorative justice measures within Europe.

The main aims of Law institute are to contribute: to the formation of the scientific basis for the reform of the Lithuanian law and legal system as well as its separate elements based on the national experience and the advantages of the European Law development; to contribute to the safeguarding of human rights and freedoms by elaborating national scientific studies as well as applied scientific research in the field of law and legal systems.