At its Eleventh Session the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice discussed the adoption of a Canadian resolution on Basic Principles on the Use of Restorative Justice Programmes in Criminal Matters.
After much debate it became clear however that the members of the Crime Commission were not ready to adopt these standards. They felt that the document needed a line-by-line review, and there was no time to do this. Several European delegations then suggested that rather than approving the basic principles, the Crime Commission should recognise the work of the expert group that prepared the document and encourage countries to use the basic principles in developing guidelines for restorative justice programmes. Therefore, the resolution reads that it takes note of the basic principles and that it encourages Member States to make use of them.
The Crime Commission has sent its report to ECOSOC, and ECOSOC is expected to approve the resolution this summer.
For more information about this UN action, please visit http://www.restorativejustice.org/rj3/UNBasicPrinciples/UN%20Crime%20Commission%20Endorses.htm.
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