A research review on the application of restorative justice in cases involving child victims in Albania, Greece and Romania was conducted within the “i-RESTORE - Better Protecting Child Victims Rights through Restorative Justice” project. The EU-funded project is led by Terre des hommes Regional Office in Hungary and implemented in partnership with the European Forum for Restorative Justice, Restorative Justice Netherlands, Terre des hommes Romania and Terre des hommes Greece.
The review resulted in four research reports: one European and three national reports (Albania, Greece, Romania). The research was carried in consultation with children and key stakeholders from these countries.
The national research report in Romania was produced by Cecilia Popa and aimed at identifying gaps and synergies concerning the application of restorative justice (RJ) in cases involving child victims. Amongst other goals, the project identified RJ practices in Romania, with a focus on the particularity of this process and the existence of best practices when working with children.
The first part of this report addresses the history of RJ in Romania, from the introduction in the Classification of Occupations in Romania (COR) of different terminologies of the mediator to the RJ Experimental Centres at the beginning of 2000 and to the current state of mediation as portrayed in the law and in practice.
The second part of this report comprises of an empirical study, which includes 40 professionals and 20 children in 25 consultation meetings. The findings of these consultations and interviews conclude around five main topics:
- restorative work with child victims,
- the challenges showcased when working with child-ren,
- best practices when working with children,
- the existence and the frequency of training in RJ and
- juvenile justice and children’s opinions about RJ.
Based on the literature review and the analysis of the interviews, a list of recommendations that have a direct connection with the current legislation and its gaps is proposed.
Access the other research reports of the i-RESTORE project:
- European Research report on restorative justice in cases involving child victims
- Research report on restorative justice in cases involving child victims in Albania
- Research report on restorative justice in cases involving child victims in Greece
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The project “i-RESTORE - Better Protecting Child Victims Rights through Restorative Justice” (September 2019 until August 2021) aims to promote the use of restorative justice in cases involving child victims by improving knowledge amongst national stakeholders on child-victim friendly restorative justice and empowering children to advocate for better protection of child victims.
The project is co-funded by the European Union’s Justice Programme (2014-2020). The content of the reports represents the views of their authors only and is their sole responsibility. The European Commission does not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.