Restorative justice for judges and public prosecutors: manual for trainers

What this is about

This manual is a guide for trainers who will lead restorative justice courses for judges and prosecutors. It arises from the RE-JUSTICE project, coordinated by KU Leuven and co-funded by the European Union's Justice Programme, with pilot trainings held in 2021 in Naples, Madrid, and Thessaloniki. It focuses on two training needs linked to Directive 2012/29/EU on victims: referring cases to restorative services and communicating respectfully and safely with victims. It proposes a blended program of five modules, with 10 hours online and 20 hours in person, built from a competence profile and from focus groups with judicial staff in Greece, Italy, and Spain. Besides content and lesson plans, it offers guidelines so that the training itself is carried out in a restorative way, and it adds materials for participants as annexes.

Annotated table of contents

• Foreword. Presents the manual from the standpoint of the European Commission's policy on victims' rights and judicial training. Stresses the need for training to include skills such as empathy and active listening.
• Introduction. Explains how to read the manual and how the training was designed: objectives, competence profile, focus groups, development, and pilot delivery. Also describes the profiles of trainers and of the participant groups.
• Unpacking the training programme. Describes the structure of each module, the split between online and in-person sessions, and the workload. Lists the tools produced by the project and gives practical instructions on the blended format and the materials.
• Restorative guidelines for trainers. Proposes training in a restorative way, with voluntary participation, circles, and experiential methods. Runs through values such as justice, respect for human dignity, solidarity, truth, and responsibility, with ideas for integrating them into classes.
• The training programme. Opens the program with an anonymous online pre-course questionnaire to survey the needs and expectations of participants.
• Module I: The emergence of restorative justice within the criminal justice context. Covers theories of punishment and criminal justice, the theoretical frameworks and origins of restorative justice, its definitions, and its values and standards. Works with video cases and group discussions.
• Module II: Understanding restorative justice in practice. Presents programs and practices, such as victim-offender mediation, conferences, and circles, and methods for evaluating their impact. Analyzes the intersections between restorative justice and criminal justice and the role of the judiciary, with a mapping exercise.
• Module III: The stakeholders of restorative justice. Identifies the main parties (victim, offender, community, and facilitator) and other actors. Deals with victims' needs, vulnerability, and barriers to access, with role-plays and group activities.
• Module IV: Legal and policy framework. Runs through the international and European framework, including the UN Basic Principles, Recommendation CM/Rec(2018)8, and Directive 2012/29/EU. It then moves to the national framework at the different stages of the proceedings and to comparative examples from other countries.
• Module V: Making restorative justice happen. Deals with case selection criteria, the role of judges and prosecutors in referral, and the motivation of the parties. Includes complex cases, such as intimate partner violence, sexual violence, or terrorism, and work at the organizational and communication level.
• Final online session. Proposes a non-evaluative final task, with two options: letters to the authorities with implementation proposals or a local action plan, along with recommendations for restorative services. Closes with a post-training and satisfaction survey.
• List of references. Gathers the bibliography cited throughout the manual.
• List of handouts, video-lectures and annexes. Lists the video lectures of each module, the materials for participants, and the annexes.
• Annexes 1-16. Contain the materials for participants for modules I to V, the pre- and post-training questionnaires, case studies, guidelines for the role-plays, and the mapping exercise.

Key ideas

• Judicial training in restorative justice must go beyond legal knowledge and develop skills and attitudes.
• The design starts from a competence profile and a needs assessment that measures the distance between that profile and what judicial staff already know.
• Judges and prosecutors play a key role in informing victims and referring cases, without affecting impartiality, independence, or legality.
• A blended format combines autonomous online study of theory with experiential in-person sessions.
• The training itself must reflect restorative values: voluntariness, a safe space, dialogue, and shared learning.
• Restorative justice can be offered at the pre-trial, trial, and post-conviction stages, including in complex cases, with safeguards for all parties.
• National legislation can facilitate access, predictability, and guarantees, but it is not enough without quality of practice, funding, and cooperation between services.
• It is advisable to have diverse teaching teams that bring together people from the judiciary, academia, and mediation.

Practical uses

• How is a blended restorative justice course organized for judges and prosecutors?
• What content, exercises, and timing should be planned for each module?
• How can training be conducted in a way that is consistent with restorative values?
• What criteria guide the referral of a case to a restorative service at the different stages of criminal proceedings?
• How are the training needs of judicial staff assessed before designing a course?

Key terms

judicial training, restorative justice, competence profile, needs assessment, blended training, restorative training, case referral, Directive 2012/29/EU, Recommendation CM/Rec(2018)8, stakeholders, victim-offender mediation, circles, role-play, safeguards, procedural justice