PENERAPAN RESTORATIVE JUSTICE DALAM PENYELESAIAN PERKARA TINDAK PIDANA PENIPUAN DAN PENGGELAPAN DI POLRESTABES MEDAN (The Implementation of Restorative Justice in The Settlement of Criminal Crimes of Fraud and Embezzlement at the Polrestabes Medan)

In the implementation of restorative justice or settlement of cases outside the court, there are no longer any minor criminal cases, but also include cases such as humiliation, persecution, fraud and embezzlement, negligence resulting in injuries, unpleasant acts, even theft, and gambling. The ultimate goal of this restorative concept hopes to reduce the number of prisoners in prison; removing stigma or labels and returning criminals to normal human beings; criminals can realize their mistakes, so they do not repeat their actions and reduce the workload of the police, prosecutors, detention centers, courts, and correctional institutions; saving state finances does not cause resentment because the perpetrator has been forgiven by the victim, the victim quickly gets compensation; empowering the community in overcoming crime, and reintegrating criminals into society. The problems, namely: settlement through restorative justice eliminates criminal acts, or not. This research is normative legal research. The results showed that: Settlement of criminal cases of fraud and embezzlement through restorative justice does not eliminate criminal acts. It is recommended that the criminal policy for settlement of cases should be changed not to retaliate but to restore the losses incurred for the parties in litigation.

Ambitions and Critiques of Restorative Justice Post COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic did not only change how we work with others and deliver public services, but also our very way of living. Furthermore, the way we view and experience conflict and violence will never be the same. Therefore, changes anticipated in relation to justice and criminal justice will be unprecedented, with criminal justice institutions such as prisons, courts and probation to be reviewed whether for financial, political or health and safety-related reasons. This Editorial introduces this Special Issue, which focuses on highlighting both the ambitions but also critiques of the role that restorative justice can play in the post COVID-19 era.

Look who’s (not) talking: The use of mediation in medical negligence claims in Ireland

This paper looks at why mediation is not more widely used in medical negligence claims in Ireland. It is based on research, undertaken in connection with an MA in Mediation and Conflict Intervention at Maynooth University, during which eight solicitors working in the field of medical negligence shared their experience and perspectives on the use of mediation in this area. The research finds that mediation is in use but only as part of the convoluted litigation system and the style used is focused on the legal interests of the parties rather than any emotional needs. The Irish State has introduced some measures to facilitate the use of mediation but there is no coherent strategy and low public awareness. Legislative changes to streamline the litigation system are on the way, but if the parties’ needs and interests are to be served, a more facilitative, people-centred mediation style should be adopted, supported by a coherent, government sponsored, restorative justice strategy.

Restorative Justice

For decades, public schools in the United States have employed retributive discipline systems that rely heavily on exclusion as a primary means to mete punishment. More recently, some schools have begun employing restorative practices which encourage relationship-building, healing, learning, and collaboration before, during, and after discipline events. Used proactively as a means to build a culture of caring and support, restorative circles foster communication and relationship-building among school stakeholders, but restorative conferences and circles may also be used in lieu of exclusion as alternatives to traditional discipline models. Advocates of restorative justice assert that recidivism is reduced through purposeful community-building processes espoused by RJ principles.

The aftermath of transnational illegal adoptions: Redressing human rights violations in the intercountry adoption system with instruments of transitional justice

A growing movement of illegally adopted individuals request remedies and reparations for the human rights violations that they and their biological families had suffered. This article explores a number of measures that the stakeholders in the receiving countries can use in an effort to repair the human rights violations caused by illegal intercountry adoptions, borrowing ideas from transitional justice. In order to effectively redress the harm inflicted upon victims of illegal adoptions, a policy on remedies should combine instruments of retributive justice, aimed at holding wrongdoers accountable, with measures of restorative justice that focus on the victims’ needs and interests.

Sytuacja prawna ofiary przestępstwa w postępowaniu wykonawczym w perspektywie sprawiedliwości naprawczej

The article is devoted to the legal situation of a crime victim in the course of executive penal proceedings. The starting point for the considerations was the statement that Goffman’s concept of total institutions and the resulting negative consequences, such as the effects of deculturation or deprivation affecting inmates, are still valid in relation to Polish penitentiary units. It is considered that restorative justice can be an effective instrument for the transition from a total institution to its negation, that is, a permeable institution, especially insofar as it promotes tools for victim and community activation in criminal proceedings. Therefore, the situation of the victim in the current model of executive proceedings was analyzed from the perspective of the possibility of implementing the idea of restorative justice. The subject matter of the article is not limited only to a synthesis of the victim’s rights under the current Executive Penal Code. The provisions normalizing the rights of the victim were analyzed in the context of the whole Code regulation and with reference to the earlier stages of criminal proceedings. In this way a complete and actual picture of the victim’s situation at this stage of criminal proceedings was presented, which was then compared with the standard of restorative justice. The critical analysis made it possible to identify the shortcomings in the current regulation of the victim’s legal situation and to outline the direction in which the legislator should proceed in order to achieve the standard of restorative justice, which will make it possible to increase the permeability of penitentiary units and thus minimize their total character.