restorative justice in italy isabella mastropasqua italian juvenile justice department

Study, Research and International Activities Bureau

Restorative Justice in ItalyIsabella Mastropasqua

Italian Juvenile Justice Department

Budapest - 27 Avril 2009


Penal Mediation in Italy


LEGAL BASELEGAL BASE General remarks:

In Italy, Juvenile Jurisdiction is distinct from the adult judiciary system.

It is applicable to young offenders between 14 and 18 years old; offenders under 14 are not criminally responsible.

Prosecution of criminal offences is mandatory under Italian legislation.


Legal base

In Italy we don’t currently have

a specific law concerning RJ.


In practice - the main areas of application of restorative justice are implemented within two different jurisdictions

- For youngsters: The code of juvenile criminal procedure (Presidential Decree n°448/1988)

- For adults: the Justice of the Peace (Legislative Decree n°274/2000)


Criminal Proceedings before the Judge of the Peace (Legislative Decree n°274/2000)

Justices of the Peace are lay judges with jurisdiction on petty crimes (threats, property damage, insults, etc) and civil matters.

They have no power to make custodial sentences, only fines, community service orders and house arrest.

There are currently 3 Centres for Mediation before Justice of the Peace in Italy (in Milan, Trento and Florence).


Italian juvenile jurisdiction

is separate from the adult justice system.


Juvenile criminal proceedings

The code of criminal procedure includes

two articles:

Art. 28 (probation) Art.9 (personality assessment) used by

magistrates to apply r.j


According to art. 28 DPR 448/1988, the judge (frequently the judge at the preliminary hearing) may suspend the proceedings and refer the case to the victim-offender mediation centres with the aim of ‘conciliation’, ‘reparation’ or ‘mediation


Note that the concept of probation differs substantially from its application in other countries. It is not a sentence, but a postponement of the sentencing decision; during the time of suspension, the young person will be placed under ‘supervision’ meaning that s/he will undergo the activities agreed with the social workers aimed at his/her rehabilitation


These activities can involve

educational programmes, volunteer work

or activities in favour of the victim’s reparation.

If the activities are done properly, the judge could dismiss the case.


According to art. 9, during the pre-trial stage, the judge may refer the case to the victim-offender mediation centre. In these instances the mediation process itself serves as an instrument that helps to assess the personality of the young person.


In principle there is no restriction regarding the type of offences that can be referred to mediation.

Any type of crime should be eligible if mediation would be beneficial for the offender and the victim agrees to the procedure.

In practice, however, it has been observed that there are certain recurring elements.


In general, the cases referred tend to meet the following conditions:

existence of a relationship between victim and offender;

the juvenile is a first-time offender; preferably it is a crime against persons


Victim Offenders Mediation Victim Offenders Mediation and Juvenile Justice Systemand Juvenile Justice System

Within the JJS, VOM is a direct confrontation between two conflicting parties with the help of a third, neutral one: the mediator.

Its main goals are:

1. Establishing communication between victim and offender, thus facilitating their exchange of feelings and emotions.

2. Getting the offender to acknowledge his/her responsibility.

3. Providing support to the victim.


Procedure – Preliminary phase

The mediator contacts both the parties – by phone or letter - and invites them to a preliminary meeting.

He conducts separate interviews with the parties to acquire their consent to the face to face encounter and to explain meaning and consequences of the mediation process, intended as a confidential and consensual space for listening and speaking.


Procedure – Face to face encounter The mediator illustrates some basic communication

rules (do not interrupt, do not use offensive language, etc.); he explains to the parties that the content will be confidential; he conducts the session in an informal style so as to create authentic communication between the parties;

The parties describe their own version of the events without being interrupted: then they participate in a general discussion.


Some examples of :

Direct reparation: The offender replaced the CD broken during the theft; The boy spent four Sundays gardening in the victim's

garden; The boys repaired the damage they had done (they

cleaned smeared walls, they fixed the broken fence, etc). Sometimes the offenders write a letter of apology to the

victims.

Indirect reparation: Activities of social utility (they volunteer with

private/public associations).


IMPLEMENTATIONIMPLEMENTATION

VOM centres run upon agreements between juvenile justice services, juvenile courts and the third sector.

VOM centres are funded by local bodies such as city councils, districts, and regions.

In Italy there are currently 19 VOM Centres. Some of them carry on also family / school and social mediations


Practice and playersPractice and players

VOM is almost all direct

40% of VOM end up with a repair initiative

Youth Welfare Offices supervise the implementation

A very short VOM brief is submitted to the Judge


VOM numbers

Year Recommended VOM

Implemented VOM

+ -

2002 321 133 (41%) 114 (86%) 17

2003 412 189 (46%) 167 (88%) 22

2004 425 214 (50%) 173 (81%) 41

2005 426 153 (36%) 135 (88%) 18


OutcomesDirect repair

Financial compensation 21

Activities 12

Activities and financial compensation 12

Simbolic redress 23

Non direct repair

Social activities linked with the kind of damage 5

Missing 3

Tot 76


Future direction

Despite the situation described,

nowadays there are positive circumstances

favouring the implementation of restorative justice.


The Juvenile Justice Department has recently issued the new Coordination guidelines concerning penal mediation in the field of junveniles (Linee di indirizzo e di coordinamento in materia di mediazione penale minorile).[1] These guidelines responds to the will of the Department of bringing about more stability and recognition to the existing experience and schemes already in place in Italy.

[1] Dipartimento per la Giustizia Minorile, Prot. N. 14096 Cl. Dir. Roma 30.04.2008.


Tools in Network

In the same line of reinforcing the practice, an international project called ‘Tools in Network’ is being put in motion. It sets up a multimedia platform for e-learning on the theme of restorative justice. The beneficiaries will be social workers working in the criminal justice system in the fields of both juveniles and adults. Each country involved in the project is now testing the plathform with a different group of people (young mediators, practitioners, students). Is preview for the end of July a final seminar to dissemination results.


Restorative Justice and Crime Prenvetion

Recently the Juvenile Justice Department has been awarded the project ‘Restorative Justice and Crime Prenvetion’ funded by the European Commission within the framework of the programme ‘Prevention of and fight against crime’.

The objectives of the project are basically to conduct research and awareness raisign with regard to the possible contribution of restorative justice to crime prevention

The promoter of the project is the Juvenile Justice Department of the Italian Ministry of Justice and the partners are the IPRS-Pscycoanalytical Institute for Social Research and the European Forum for Restorative Justice.


THE ENDTo have more information please

read the italian report and

visit the website www.giustiziaminorile.it

restorative justice in italy isabella mastropasqua italian juvenile justice department

Documents

restorative justice

mediation process

adult justice system

code of criminal procedure

young person

young offenders

italian legislation

type of offences