In this essay Aertsen and Peters analyse a project involving mediation for reparation a specific type of mediation reserved for more serious crimes; its key ingredient being the communication between offender and victim. This "mediation for reparation" project started as an experiment in 1993 and became a regular practice of criminal justice in the judicial district of Leuven, Belgium, in 1996. Fundamental to the project and their analysis is a restorative justice approach to the problem of crime, an approach that aims to take seriously the role and needs of the victim in the criminal justice process. Emphasizing the victim’s perspective in mediation for reparation, Aertsen and Peters discuss a number of matters: the design of the mediation project; the mediation process itself (definition and procedures, selection of cases and proposal of mediation to the victim, contact between victim and offender, agreement between victim and offender, judicial process and sentencing, and follow-up); and results of mediation for reparation. To illustrate, the authors present a case study of mediation for reparation.

Source: Vanspauwen, K., Robert, L., Aertsen, I., Parmentier, S. (2003), Restorative Justice and Restorative Detention. A selected and annotated bibliography. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Faculteit Rechtsgeleerdheid, Onderzoeksgroep Penologie en Victimologie.