The Exploration And Practice Of Victim-offender Mediation In The Stage Of Prosecution

Victim-offender mediation, a kind of system assisted by a mediator, offers a direct encounter and negotiation between the offender and the victim, humanizes the criminal justice experience for two parties by addressing their particular needs in developing a restitution plan that holds the offenders financially accountable for the losses they caused, and rectifies the injustice more peacefully as a result of providing interested parties more voluntary involvements in judicial procedure. Victim-offender mediation programs have become increasingly popular in the world since they were introduced into legal practices in U.S.A and UK twenty years ago. Recently, it also becomes a hot discussion topic of legal theorists and practitioners in China. In order to meet the demands of building harmonious society and executing the criminal policy of temper justice with mercy, it's possible and necessary to create a Victim-offender mediation mechanism with Chinese characteristics base on domestic resources. In minor criminal cases, it can protect the victim effectively, improve the procedure efficiently, and create a win-win relation between the state and the parties in the lawsuit. Victim-offender mediation can be offered in the stage of criminal investigation, review and prosecution, or trial. Considering the particular situation in China, it is better to provide this mediation in the phase of review and prosecution. When it's applied, the mediator should not be played by the Procuratorate but by other social institutions, while the Procuratorate, as a legal supervision organization, should ensure the fairness of mediation through indirect means. It is important for the Procuratorate to meet the legal and other specific requirements when introducing Victim-offender mediation into the prosecution proceeding. Under the current situation, Victim-offender mediation should be only applied in minor criminal cases. And the related mechanism should be built and completed in order to make Victim-offender mediation applied properly and prevent it from the abuse of power.