Criminal justice experts from every region are meeting in Ottawa from 29 October to 1 November to discuss proposed Basic Principles on the Use of Restorative Justice Programmes in Criminal Matters.  The purpose of the meeting will be to review comments by 37 countries on draft basic principles circulated by the Secretary-General in late 2000.

Background

For a number of years the United Nations has taken notice of restorative justice, mediation, and informal or traditional means of dealing with certain crimes.  See UN documents on restorative justice.  In 1999 ECOSOC adopted a resolution calling for increased use of mediation and restorative justice, and suggesting that the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice consider developing standards to guide nations in using these interventions.

As it turned out, the Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and the Treatment of Offenders had been preparing just such a set of guidelines.  Drawing on the Council of Europe Recommendation Concerning Mediation in Penal Matters as well as standards prepared by other NGOs, the Alliance’s Working Party on Restorative Justice completed a draft set of Basic Principles on the Use of Restorative Justice Programmes in Criminal Matters in late 1999.  These were circulated to countries in anticipation of the Tenth UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Treatment of Offenders.

Restorative justice was a major topic of discussion during the Tenth UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Treatment of Offenders, held in Vienna in early 2000. In the meetings of the Commission on Criminal Justice and Crime Prevention that immediately followed the Congress, 40 nations sponsored a resolution providing for distribution of the draft Basic Principles for comment. This resolution was adopted by the Commission and later by ECOSOC.  See Basic Principles resolution.  

The Secretary-General distributed a diplomatic letter in early December 2000 to all Member States of the UN, as well as to Non-Governmental Organizations. The letter asked whether an international instrument on restorative justice would be useful, whether there were substantive comments on the draft, and whether an expert meeting on the topic would be useful. 

According to the UN Centre for International Crime Prevention, 37 countries submitted the requested responses. This was seven more than the number required by the UN before taking further action.  

The Government of Canada is hosting the Expert Meeting.

 

By Dan Van Ness

November 2001

For more background information on the Basic Principles, including a point-by-point commentary on each provision, see Proposed UN Basic Principles on Restorative Justice by Daniel W. Van Ness.

For a review of the reasons for UN Basic Principles on the Use of Restorative Justice Programmes in Criminal Matters, see The Need for Basic Principles.

For a critical analysis of the Proposed Basic Principles, see Critical Analysis of the United Nations Declaration of Basic Principles on the Use of Restorative Justice Programs in Criminal Matters by Jason Nadeau.