Dr. David Miers' research interests include the law governing compensation of victims of crime and, more generally, the position of the victim in the criminal justice system.

David has contributed in recent years to a number of linked initiatives concerning the scope of restorative justice. In 1999/2000, David led a major research evaluation for the Home Office concerning restorative justice provision in seven schemes in England and Wales that focussed on the potential outcomes of restorative interventions. That research prompted a theoretical paper published in Punishment and Society in 2004.

David has worked on development of a comparative analysis of restorative justice and victim offender mediation provisions, in particular within Europe. The Home Office commissioned the first analysis, publishing it in 2001. Three years later, the European Forum for Victim-Offender Mediation and Restorative Justice, of which David is a founding member, published an updated and expanded version. The analyses compare and contrast provision of restorative justice services among European countries, partly to evaluate compliance with international standards. 

Important Idea:

Both the development of international standards, for example concerning protocols for victim and offender engagement, and the subsequent mapping of individual countries' compliance with those standards, are tasks that assume the clear identification of how programmes are designed and delivered. The capacity to compare restorative justice programme design and delivery across countries according to common dimensions is a necessary condition of an understanding of its local, national and international development.

Leading Edge

David continues his work in comparative analysis as a member of the European Commission funded COST Action A21, "Restorative Justice Developments in Europe." A number of official bodies have invited David to speak on this subject. He is currently completing an invited contribution on the international development of restorative justice.

Reach David Miers at miers@Cardiff.ac.uk

Bibliography