The Victims’ Rights Directive (Directive 2012/29/EU) is a key EU document determining policy priorities promoting victims’ rights across the European Union. Being the first binding EU legislation on restorative justice, it is one of the most significant international documents concerning restorative justice and its implementation in the EU Member States.
The European Commission started the evaluation process of the Directive in the second half of 2021 “to assess to what extent it has achieved its objectives in terms of its implementation and practical application in EU countries”.
The European Forum for Restorative Justice, as the largest restorative justice network organisation in Europe is participating in this evaluation process - among other actions - by submitting a position paper to the European Commission. The position paper outlines a European perspective concerning the implementation in practice of the restorative justice provisions in the Victims’ Rights Directive.
The submission is based on an extensive research process. In order identify strengths and weaknesses relating to the implementation of these provisions at the national and the regional level, we sent a survey to selected EFRJ members and networks and received feedback 45 experts and expert organisation from 18 countries.
