This week our Chair of the Board, Tim Chapman, and our Executive Director, Edit Törzs represented the EFRJ on the 14th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. The largest international meeting in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice is organised every fifth year and it indicates the most prevalent orientations for the upcoming years in this area. The Kyoto Declaration issued by the Congress:
- Explicitly calls for the facilitation of “restorative justice processes at relevant stages in criminal proceedings in order to assist the recovery of victims and the reintegration of offenders” (article 42).
- Highlights the significance of victim-centred procedures and the key role of practitioners's professional training to “to strengthen their capacity to provide victim-centred assistance and support that take into account the specific needs of victims” (article 34).
- Calls for regional and cross-regional cooperation networks of law enforcement and other criminal justice practitioners (article 63).
