Chance of victim-offender mediation in hungary

Abstract

In general, mediation conceived as a peaceful method of conflict resolution and problem solving is a recent phenomenon in Hungary. Historically, the "Conciliation Hearing"1 in divorce proceedings was the first quasi-mediation2 method. Instead of reconciliation and compensation the theoretical background of the conciliation hearing was the unacceptability of divorce. The judge was obliged to try to achieve peace making of the couple to convince them not to divorce. It was partly non-professional and not in conjunction with the rules of classical mediation As a special form of mediation, "Health Mediation" came into force in 2000. Health mediation is held between the patient and the health service provider to find a peaceful solution to a problem in relation to the health services (like failure to enforce a patient's right for information). An appointed representative of the patients based in every hospital moderates this mediation. In January 2004 "Child Welfare Mediation" was introduced. This mediation focuses only on the relations between child and non-custodial parents (grandparents and other entitled persons). Public Guardianship Authority has the right to use mediation if entitled partners are unable to manage agreement on date, frequency or type of keeping contact with the child. Until now, we have no information from the practical application of this mediation, neither from the frequency, nor from the success of the application. Since 2002, a new Act on Mediation (No. 55/2002) has described the rules of "Civil Mediation"3 and the general characteristics and conditions (like education, recording, functioning) of mediators. After the political transition in 1989, the accelerated economic development involved increasing conflicts among the actors of the market economy. The legal procedures were slow, expensive and incalculable for international companies, which explains why arbitrage and mediation is widespread among corporations (at present approximately 70% of conflicts based on a contract between corporations or individuals are arranged by arbitrage or mediation). Presently, more than 819 active and trained mediators are working in the field of labour, family, health, education and community conflicts. In criminal law, similar challenges were originated by the democratic transition, though in criminal law the increasing number of crimes led to strict criminal regulations and stabilized the State monopoly in criminal justice. However, the strong public pressure on the policy makers and law enforcement bodies has made it impossible until now to introduce alternative methods. Those implementing legislation, notable authorities, judges, prosecutors and the police also share this resistance. Within the past 15 years, however, VOM and other RJ methods have been slowly spreading, thanks to the work of many academics, researchers and university professors who have been writing about western practices and translating foreign articles about mediation. In addition, some NGOs like Family Child Youth Association introduced Real Justice in Hungary, or Community Service Foundation Hungary, which established the first school training program based on restorative practices (Kökönyi and Negrea, 2000). At the moment, Victim-Offender Mediation (VOM) is not an official process in Hungary either for adult offenders, or for juveniles, but some NGOs and some professionals from the social and judicial field have started to investigate alternatives to judicial proceedings such as educational and rehabilitation approaches, in cases involving juveniles or child delinquents. In October of 1999, Paul McCold and Ted Wachtel from Pennsylvania (USA), conducted the first training course and two Hungarian professionals (a lawyer and a psychologist) spent months with the Community Service Foundation schools in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to learn and practice the method of Real Justice (Herczog, 2003). For a short period of time after this experience, a new practice was introduced in one of the detention centres for boys at Aszod. Specifically, newly sentenced young offenders were asked to write and send a letter to their victim, if they wished. They could have even taken part, at least in principle, in a conference thereby meeting their victim(s) and the victim's supporters. In addition, two law faculties, in Miskolc, and Pécs, introduced a special course on mediation and restorative practices such as the Police Academy in Budapest in 2001. Further, some NGOs4 are currently attempting to introduce mediation methods in high schools and juvenile prisons (e.g., victim-offender dialogue, performing experiences of juveniles in high schools, circles). The Family, Child, Youth Association has been offering courses and offering help with VOM mostly at schools (Földes, 2002). The Government put together a National Crime Prevention Strategy approved by parliament in 2004. The core of this strategy involves crimes being redefined as conflicts between victims and offenders in close connection with current Hungarian social, economical and political circumstances. One of the main proposals of the National Strategy is to establish an alternative to the judiciary, an alternative in which the parties in conflict, especially young offenders and victims themselves, take an active part in the process of conflict resolution, reparation and healing. The National Strategy introduces the definition of restorative justice5 into the Hungarian legal system, gives attention to the juveniles as a special target group for the crime prevention, and mentions VOM for the first time ever in a legal document although not a law. Based on the National Crime Prevention Strategy, the next step of reform would be the introduction of VOM, especially for juveniles in accordance with the EU requirements. In October 2004 the European Forum for Victim-Offender Mediation and Restorative Justice Conference was held in Budapest and was co-organised by the above-mentioned Hungarian NGOs and the National Institute of Criminology. The conference provided a wealth of information and an opportunity to those interested in Hungary to get learn more about restorative justice and international practices. The juvenile justice system in Hungary has not been changed for a long time. In fact, no major development in this field has taken place since the beginning of the twentieth century when it was a very advanced approach for that era. Few of the rules of international and UN agreements have been implemented so far. On the one hand in Hungary there has been no special attention to juvenile delinquency and on the other, along with the major social and political transition (1989-1990), a changing and somewhat decreasing degree of attention has been paid to prevention of the rapidly increasing youth problems. Children and young people have become the victims of the changes in many ways. The first legislation on child protection after 96 years was introduced in November 1997, restructuring the child welfare system and focusing on prevention and home-based care. Compared to other countries in the region, the situation has been much more favourable but for several reasons many of these advantages can easily be lost: the media attention (limited primarily to crimes and scandals that have a news value) rather than focusing on possible solutions, prevention, or professional responsibility, is influencing very strongly the public opinion, provoking strong feelings and little sympathy for the offenders3. This is a way of serving the demand articulated by the public that are not properly informed and are not interested in learning more in depth about problems of those involved. © 2005 Springer.