Czech Republic

Provides a listing of articles on restorative justice developments in the Czech Republic. Articles appear in the order in which they were added to the site with the most recent appearing first.

Tkac, Marek and Gjados, Radek and Stern, Pavel. Czech justice and restorative practice.

For the Czech Republic, as for many other countries, the fall of the "iron curtain" in 1989 and the end of the cold war marked a fundamental break: a new beginning and an opportunity to create new ways of doing things. It brought far-reaching reforms in the criminal justice system, initially in Czechoslovakia, and then, following partition, in the Czech Republic. We can say that the modern history of community sanctions and measures, as well as that of the probation and mediation activities, only began in the early 1990s. The first alternative concept was introduced into the Czech criminal law in 1994 as a diversion (conditional cessation of prosecution). This step was revolutionary in this period since it introduced elements of Anglo-Saxon law into the Czech continental legal system. It also created the ideal starting point for initial mediation activity during criminal proceedings. (excerpt)

Stern, Pavel. Probation and Mediation Under One Roof (summary)

In 1998 the Criminal code was upgraded and amended. It introduced more alternative penalties that involved probation and probation supervision. At the same time, the initial experimental projects of alternative provisions were evaluated. These demonstrated excellent outcomes. As a result, the Parliament of the Czech Republic approved a governmental proposal and passed the Probation and Mediation Service Act on January 1st 2001. This was a very satisfactory conclusion to the first stage of the process. As for the Probation and Mediation Service, the process of its establishment was both important and very positive. There was a joint effort made by the universities and non-governmental organizations on the one hand, and the support of the government and the State Department of Justice on the other. Therefore, we can see this process as self-sustaining, as Vaclav Havel described it; as something established upon the initiatives and needs coming from everyday practice. It gained the necessary support of the governmental institutions at the right time and opportunity. We can see this as a good example of cooperation between the government and non-governmental sectors, bringing them together and creating important, shared and consensual change in the application of law and social services in the criminal justice sphere. (excerpt)

Marchal, An. On the Summer School in Pilsen.

It is clear that training of mediators (volunteers and professionals) is of high importance. Much know how and experience has been developed at local, national level. But a strong need was felt to cross national boarders and to learn from others who develop training programs and standards, for example by bringing up a pool of supportive practitioners. For the first time, in June/July 2005 a European Summerschool for trainers and practitioners of victim offender mediation took place in Pilsen (Czech Republic). 24 participants of different countries participated, and worked together on different themes.(author's abstract)

Praskova, Marketa Krillova and Hruskova, Jitka and Stantejski, Ondrej. A new plan of the Czech Probation and Mediation Service (PMS) to improve and strengthen the delivery of RJ programmes

Representatives of the Czech Probation and Mediation Service presented on the "Actual situation in delivering and providing of restorative justice programs in the frame of the Czech justice and a new plan of PMS how to improve and strengthen delivering of RJ programs." A part of the presentation was description of a new concept on how to develop RJ programs into effective structures in the framework of judicial bodies in cooperation with nongovernmental bodies (concept of a new certification system for NGOs in order to develop new RJ programs – VOM, FGC, probation panels, programs for victims). Currently running projects ("Mentor" and "Specialized Comprehensive Counselling for the Victims of Crime") that are run by PMS in cooperation with NGOs and which are trying to implement RJ principles into practice were also introduced. (excerpt)

Matouskova, Andrea. Mediation as a restorative approach to dealing with juvenile crime in the Czech Republic.

The Czech Republic has a population of approximately 10 million people. The Probation and Mediation Service of the Czech Republic (PMS) was founded in January 2001. IN 2009,the PMS had 340 probation officers and assistants. The PMS operates with approximately 28,000 cases per year, 14% of the cases are connected to juveniles. In the Czech Republic the judicial system is divided into 8 court regions with 74 court districts 9and 74 PMS centres). Each PMS centre has one specialised officer who focuses on issues related to juveniles. According to the Czech Youth Justice Act (YJA) this specialised officer has to receive special training on methods of working with juveniles, their families and on cooperating with other professionals (social workers, teachers, psychologists, lawyers, etc.). (excerpt)

Striving for Restorative Justice in the Czech Republic

The Association for Development of Social Work in Criminal Justice (SPJ) is an NGO in the Czech Republic working for criminal justice reform. The group has worked in developing mediation, probation, and community service. This article about their activities was written by Ludmila Hasmanová.