The Effectiveness of Victim-Offender Mediation in Criminal Proceedings Carried Out in 2011-2014 in the District Court of Białystok in the Light of Files Research

Abstract

This article is based on the results of scientific research conducted within the project “The pilot implementation of the Community Court model in Poland as an institutional bridge between the judiciary, local government authorities and social organizations to facilitate the implementation of restorative justice in practice”. The project was funded by the National Centre for Research and Development under the programme “Social Innovations” according to the agreement No. /IS-1/039/ NCBR/2014. Within the project, fifty court cases, which had been previously referred to victim-offender mediation, were examined. All of them were conducted before the Third Criminal Division of the District Court in Białystok in 2011-2014 (first half). The decisive criterion was the date of the court’s decision to refer the case to victim-offender mediation. Th e ratio of settlements concluded in the course of victim-offender mediation in criminal cases conducted before the District Court of Białystok is about 10-30% lower in comparison to the national average in each of the studied years. The types of crime which are most frequently referred to mediation proceedings in the District Court of Białystok and in other Polish courts do not diff er. Th e crimes against life and health, honour and personal inviolability, the family and guardianship, property as well as against freedom are the most common. Th e motions for victim-offender mediation are usually filed by the counsels for the defence and by the accused themselves, and subsequently the court. The best results in mediation settlements are reached in the cases of a joint initiative of the parties. In cases in which the settlement was concluded, the court most frequently applied a conditional discontinuance of proceedings or imprisonment with conditional suspension of its execution. Th e failure of mediation resulted mainly from the lack of agreement by the parties, and subsequently from the absence or refusal to participate in mediation by the accused or the victims. Mediation completed with a settlement effectively prevents from lodging an appeal against the sentence of the first instance court. Th e appeal was lodged only in 12.5% of such cases.