The Italian Autorità Garante per l'Infanzia e l'Adolescenza (AGIA - Guarantor Authority for Children and Adolescents) has conducted a national study, with the Ministry of Justice and the Istituto degli Innocenti (Institute of Innocents), over two years (2022-2023). The research aimed to answer three questions:
1. What are the possible effects of restorative justice in the juvenile criminal system?
2. What does it concretely entail?
3. Who are the current providers of services in this field in Italy?
These questions assumed particular relevance in light of the very recent reform introduced by former Minister Marta Cartabia, who, with Legislative Decree 150 of 2022, has established restorative justice as a paradigm that all legal operators, and others, are now called to confront.
The national study, which is qualitative in nature, consists of three parts: the first collects, in a narrative and choral manner, the testimonies of young people who were either offenders or victims of crime, as well as parents and juvenile justice officers, who share from their experience what participation in a restorative justice program has brought to their lives. The second part focuses on the identification, also through qualitative research tools such as focus groups and interviews, of restorative justice programs currently in use in Italy, with particular attention to those that differ from victim-offender mediation. Finally, the third part of the study provides an overview of the nature and characteristics of the entities—both public and private social organisations—that offer restorative justice services nationwide.
The publication has now been translated into English, in digital format to ensure maximum dissemination, and includes in the appendix the new comprehensive regulation of restorative justice. The EFRJ decided to host this webinar, due to the relevance and urgency of the topic in general and also in preparation of its 13th international seminar in Athens.
