Udział czynnika społecznego w postępowaniu w sprawach nieletnich – założenia teoretyczne i praktyka

Abstract

Juvenile law is a relatively young branch of law. It was singled out at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. From the very beginning, juvenile law regulations could be distinguished as two dominant models: protective and restrictive. However, neither of them fulfilled expectations and faced a wave of criticism. One of the consequences of this situation was the appearance of the “third road” of reaction on juvenile crimes – that of restorative justice. Under the regulations in force, in Poland juvenile matters are resolved on the basis of the protective model. From 2001 it has been enriched with elements of the restorative justice model such as mediation. The aforementioned regulations also provide for the wide participation of a social factor in juvenile matters, but, as statistics show, with minimal relevance in practice. The article is a contribution to discussion about the causes of this minimal relevance and the possibilities of changing it, for instance by enlarging the participation of social organizations in juvenile crime matters.