International Standards of Implementing Mediation within Criminal Proceedings and the State of Its Realization in Ukraine

Abstract

International standards for mediation in criminal proceedings have been defined; the process of development of the institution of mediation in criminal proceedings in Ukraine has been characterized; propositions on improving the procedure for mediation in criminal proceedings have been expressed.
 It has been established that the introduction of mediation in criminal proceedings, as a necessary condition for the development of the national legal system, was reflected in many international legal instruments that Ukraine had undertaken to execute. The traditional system of criminal justice cannot offer an effective solution to the problem of dealing with persons who committed a criminal offense. It has been proved that the urgent need of our state is to create new effective alternatives to official criminal prosecution, in particular mediation.
 The analysis of legislative activity on introducing mediation in Ukraine has been carried out. Representatives of the legislative initiative on the need to consolidate the possibility of conducting a mediation procedure at the legislative level by adopting the draft Law of Ukraine “On Mediation” dated from May 19, 2020 No. 3504 in the second reading.
 It has been defined that mediation in Ukraine is not fully implemented, since there is no legal basis. At the same time, some measures have been implemented in Ukraine to introduce mediation in criminal proceedings. Thus, the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine provides the possibility of concluding a conciliation agreement between the victim and the suspect, the accused. At the same time, allowing the possibility of concluding a conciliation agreement, the criminal procedural legislation does not directly regulate the mediation procedure. It has been substantiated that the procedure for mediation during criminal proceedings should be regulated by: 1) adoption of the Law of Ukraine “On Mediation”; 2) making systemic amendments to the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine.
 Particular attention has been paid to the fact that, despite the lack of a legal basis, our country has experience in applying the mediation procedure in criminal proceedings. Starting from 2019, two pilot projects have been implementing in Ukraine, which demonstrated positive results in this direction: “Restorative Program of Juveniles Suspected in Committing a Criminal Offense” and “Implementation of Restorative Justice in Ukraine”. The results of the implementation of these projects have proved that the mediation procedure has indisputable advantages over punitive justice.