Belgium

Articles describing and discussing Belgium's effort to create 'restorative prisons.'

Daelemans, Ann. Guiding the Change Process in Belgian Prisons: Towards a Restorative Prison Policy.: The presentation will deal with the implementation of restorative justice in the Belgian prison system. In 2000, the position of the restorative justice consultant was created in order to realise a ‘restorative detention’. RJ-consultants are working within the prison walls and are employees of the Federal Department of Justice. In their mission of guiding the change process towards a restorative prison policy, they have an advisory role towards the prison governor. (excerpt)
van Garse, Leo. Mediation in a Detention Context: Moralisation or Participation?: This article discusses the author’s development of mediation processes between victim and offenders in Belgium. The focus of the mediation is during the criminal justice process, particularly the punishment phase. In 2005, Belgium passed an act making mediation a part of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and mediation was introduced to address the problem of overpopulated prisons. One proposal was “restorative detention” where civil servants would work in prisons to counsel prison personnel on how to promote a restorative environment. The main goal is reinforcing prisoners to think about the harm they have caused and how they can mend that harm. The final section of the article discusses the author’s findings from employing mediation and restorative justice frameworks in Belgium prisons.
Hilde Verhoeven and Verstraete, Anneli and Inge Vandeurzen and Hilde Verhoeven. Introducing restorative justice in Belgian prisons: The authors describe a pilot project in Belgium with restorative purposes: the aim of the project is to enable prisoners to take responsibility for their acts and address the conflict between them and their victims. Hence, the project focuses on changing the prison mentality, or the prevailing prison culture. The authors summarize recent changes in society and in criminological theory and practice that provided the background for the project, and they highlight key characteristics of the project.
Eyckmans, David and Dufraing, Dirk and Regelbrugge, Marianne and Dufraing, Dirk. The concept of restorative justice in prison seen from the community and illustrated by the practice of victim-offender mediation: As David Eyckmans, Dirk Dufraing, and Marianne Regelbrugge point out, to understand the topic they address in this presentation, it is important to recognize that Belgium is a federal state consisting of communities and regions. Determination of law and policy in Belgium is shared by the federal government and regional communities and their authorities. The Flemish region is one of those communities. In general, with respect to criminal justice the federal government has responsibility for major functions concerning sanctions and incarceration of offenders. The communities have responsibility more for aid and social services, including those to prisoners and their victims. Since 2000 the federal Minister of Justice has begun to incorporate aspects of restorative justice in prison policy. Against this background, the authors detail the way the Flemish community, in cooperation with federal justice authorities and other organizations, is trying to pursue a restorative initiative toward prisoners and their victims. The authors discuss in this regard the conceptual framework for and outcomes of victim-offender mediation in prison.
Biermans, Nadia. Restorative justice and the prison system: For about two years now, Nadia Biermans, along with others, has been trying to apply restorative justice ideas and practices in Flemish prisons. Based on her experiences, in this paper she raises some questions and makes certain observations about restorative justice in the prison system. She begins by explaining how restorative justice in Belgian prisons began and how it is organized. This leads to discussion of the question of whether restorative justice has a place in prison, the issue of educating and persuading the wider public about restorative justice, and successful ingredients for introducing restorative justice in prisons.
Biermans, Nadia And d'Hoop, Marie Nathalie. Development of Belgian Prisons into a Restorative Perspective: Biermans and d’Hoop explore in this paper the development of a restorative approach in the Belgian prison system.

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Navigation Prison Cell Overview Victim Awareness and Empathy Programmes Making Amends in Prison Victim-Offender Dialogue Conflict Resolution Transformation Programmes Preparation for Release Prison-Community Relations Examples Belgium England Issues Prison Moratorium/Abolition Parole	Info Belgium Articles describing and discussing Belgium's effort to create 'restorative prisons.' Daelemans, Ann. Guiding the Change Process in Belgian Prisons: Towards a Restorative Prison Policy. The presentation will deal with the implementation of restorative justice in the Belgian prison system. In 2000, the position of the restorative justice consultant was created in order to realise a ‘restorative detention’. RJ-consultants are working within the prison walls and are employees of the Federal Department of Justice. In their mission of guiding the change process towards a restorative prison policy, they have an advisory role towards the prison governor. (excerpt) van Garse, Leo. Mediation in a Detention Context: Moralisation or Participation? This article discusses the author’s development of mediation processes between victim and offenders in Belgium. The focus of the mediation is during the criminal justice process, particularly the punishment phase. In 2005, Belgium passed an act making mediation a part of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and mediation was introduced to address the problem of overpopulated prisons. One proposal was “restorative detention” where civil servants would work in prisons to counsel prison personnel on how to promote a restorative environment. The main goal is reinforcing prisoners to think about the harm they have caused and how they can mend that harm. The final section of the article discusses the author’s findings from employing mediation and restorative justice frameworks in Belgium prisons. Hilde Verhoeven and Verstraete, Anneli and Inge Vandeurzen and Hilde Verhoeven. Introducing restorative justice in Belgian prisons The authors describe a pilot project in Belgium with restorative purposes: the aim of the project is to enable prisoners to take responsibility for their acts and address the conflict between them and their victims. Hence, the project focuses on changing the prison mentality, or the prevailing prison culture. The authors summarize recent changes in society and in criminological theory and practice that provided the background for the project, and they highlight key characteristics of the project. Eyckmans, David and Dufraing, Dirk and Regelbrugge, Marianne and Dufraing, Dirk. The concept of restorative justice in prison seen from the community and illustrated by the practice of victim-offender mediation As David Eyckmans, Dirk Dufraing, and Marianne Regelbrugge point out, to understand the topic they address in this presentation, it is important to recognize that Belgium is a federal state consisting of communities and regions. Determination of law and policy in Belgium is shared by the federal government and regional communities and their authorities. The Flemish region is one of those communities. In general, with respect to criminal justice the federal government has responsibility for major functions concerning sanctions and incarceration of offenders. The communities have responsibility more for aid and social services, including those to prisoners and their victims. Since 2000 the federal Minister of Justice has begun to incorporate aspects of restorative justice in prison policy. Against this background, the authors detail the way the Flemish community, in cooperation with federal justice authorities and other organizations, is trying to pursue a restorative initiative toward prisoners and their victims. The authors discuss in this regard the conceptual framework for and outcomes of victim-offender mediation in prison. Biermans, Nadia. Restorative justice and the prison system For about two years now, Nadia Biermans, along with others, has been trying to apply restorative justice ideas and practices in Flemish prisons. Based on her experiences, in this paper she raises some questions and makes certain observations about restorative justice in the prison system. She begins by explaining how restorative justice in Belgian prisons began and how it is organized. This leads to discussion of the question of whether restorative justice has a place in prison, the issue of educating and persuading the wider public about restorative justice, and successful ingredients for introducing restorative justice in prisons. Biermans, Nadia And d'Hoop, Marie Nathalie. Development of Belgian Prisons into a Restorative Perspective Biermans and d’Hoop explore in this paper the development of a restorative approach in the Belgian prison system. 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