• Declaration on Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power (United Nations General Assembly – Resolution no. 40/34 of 29 November 1985) which affirms the need to adopt national and international measures aimed at ensuring universal and effective recognition of the rights of victims of crime and abuse of power and also stresses the need to encourage all states to progress in their efforts to achieve this end without prejudice towards suspected or convicted offenders, inviting member states to take the necessary steps to follow up the provisions of the Declaration in order to enact special crime prevention measures to reduce victimisation;
• Resolution on “Elements of Responsible Crime Prevention: Standards and Norms” (United Nations Economic and Social Council No. 1997/33 of 21 July 1997), which, noting the overcrowding of prisons and the critical state of the criminal justice system, affirms the importance of non-repressive crime prevention and reiterates the need for attention to the victim, who should not be “blamed” but assisted and protected, and for due consideration of the rights of the offender;
• Resolution on “International Cooperation aimed at the Reduction of Prison Overcrowding and the Promotion of Alternative Sentencing” (United Nations Economic and Social Council No. 1998/23 of 28 July 1998) which, noting the overcrowding of prisons and the difficulty of the work of practitioners, recommends member states to resort to the development of non-custodial forms of punishment and – if possible – to amicable solutions of minor conflicts, through the use of mediation, the acceptance of civil forms of reparation or agreements of economic reintegration in favour of the victim with part of the offender’s income or compensation with work carried out by the offender in favour of the victim;
•Resolution on the Development and Implementation of Mediation and Restorative Justice Measures in Criminal Justice (United Nations Economic and Social Council No. 1999/26 of 28 July 1999) which reaffirms that the resolution of petty disputes and offences can be sought through mediation and other forms of restorative justice, and in particular measures which, under the supervision of a judge or other competent authority, facilitate the offender and the victim to meet, compensate for the damage suffered or perform services/activities useful to the community. It is also emphasised that mediation and other forms of restorative justice can be satisfactory for the victim, as well as for the prevention of future offending behaviour, and can be a viable alternative to short prison sentences or fines. It invites the Member States to consider, within their legal systems, the development of procedures that serve as alternatives to formal criminal justice proceedings and to formulate mediation and restorative justice policies with a view to fostering a culture favourable to mediation and restorative justice. It emphasises the importance of ensuring appropriate training for those who will have to implement these processes;
• Vienna Declaration on Crime and Justice (Tenth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders – Vienna 10-17 April 2000), in which member states commit themselves to the promotion of the rule of law and the strengthening of the criminal justice system, as well as to the further development of international cooperation in the fight against transnational crime and the effective prevention of crime. Some points of the declaration specifically deal with the definition of commitments towards the introduction of “appropriate assistance programmes for victims of crime, at the national, regional, and international level, such as mechanisms for mediation and restorative justice” by identifying 2002 as the “deadline for States to review their relevant procedures, in order to develop further victim support services and awareness-raising campaigns on victims’ rights, and to consider the establishment of funds for victims, as well as the development and implementation of policies for witness protection (Art. 27). Article 28 further states ‘We encourage the development of restorative justice policies, procedures and programmes that respect the rights, needs and interests of victims, offenders, communities and all other parties’;
• Resolution on Basic Principles on the Use of Restorative Justice Programmes in Criminal Matters (United Nations Economic and Social Council no. 2000/14 of 27/07/2000) which, recalling the contents of the previous resolutions as well as the Vienna Declaration, identifies in its annex a preliminary outline of a statement of basic principles for the use of restorative justice programmes in criminal matters, to be submitted to the attention of Member States, the most relevant intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations, as well as to the bodies of the United Nations network dealing with crime prevention and criminal justice programmes, in order to define common principles on the matter;
• Resolution on the Vienna Declaration on Crime and Justice: Meeting the Challenges of the Twenty-first Century (United Nations General Assembly – No 55/59 of 4 December 2000), which incorporates the contents of the Vienna Declaration. The Member States, noting the need for bilateral, regional and international agreements on crime prevention and criminal justice, are convinced that prevention and rehabilitation programmes are fundamental as strategies for effective crime control and that an adequate crime policy is an important factor in promoting socio-economic development and the security of citizens. It also affirms awareness of the importance of developing forms of restorative justice that tend to reduce crime and promote the recomposition of victims, offenders and communities. The resolution adopts the objectives defined in Articles 27 and 28 of the Vienna Declaration regarding the development of action plans in support of victims, as well as forms of mediation and restorative justice, setting 2002 as the deadline for member states;
• Resolution Concerning the Follow-up to the United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (United Nations General Assembly – No. 55/60 of 4 July 2000) calling on governments to be guided by the Vienna Declaration and requesting the Secretary-General to prepare – after consultation with Member States – draft action plans that include specific measures with a view to implementing the Vienna commitments;
• Resolution on Plans of Action for the Implementation of the Vienna Declaration on Crime and Justice: the New Challenges of the 21st Century (United Nations General Assembly – No. 56/261 of 31 January 2002), which incorporates the action plans prepared by the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, following consultations with Member States. In particular, the action plans follow up points 27 and 28 of the Vienna Declaration with the identification of both national and international measures.
Respectively, Chapter IX refers to ‘Measures in favour of witnesses and victims of crime’, emphasising the importance of encouraging pilot projects for the creation or development of services for victims and other related activities.
Chapter XV, on the other hand, refers to “Measures relating to restorative justice” and the need to develop an appropriate restorative justice policy and related programmes, taking into account international commitments made in favour of victims. It also stresses the need to promote a culture favourable to mediation and restorative justice and the need to adequately train the operators who will have to work on the implementation of these policies;
• Resolution on Basic Principles on the Use of Restorative Justice Programmes in Criminal Matters (United Nations Economic and Social Council No. 12/2002), which, while taking note of the work carried out by the Group of Experts on Restorative Justice, encourages Member States to develop programmes in this sense and to support each other in initiating research, evaluations, exchanges of experience. The document annexed to the resolution contains indications that – as the experts state in the course of their work – cannot be compulsory and rigid as they have to be adapted to the penal system of the various states. Restorative justice should however be seen as a dynamic measure to combat crime, which respects the dignity of each individual and the equality of all, fosters understanding and contributes to social harmony by aiming at the ‘healing’ of victims, offenders and communities. Importantly, it states that restorative justice interventions enable victims to obtain redress, feel safer and find peace of mind, and also enables offenders to become aware of the causes and effects of their behaviour and to take responsibility for it in a constructive manner, while also helping communities to understand the root causes of crime and to promote actions for greater well-being and crime prevention. The principles contained in the document are extremely clear, starting from the definition of the main concepts, clarifying that when speaking of restorative justice programmes we refer to all the initiatives that the various countries – depending on their penal system – put in place in the various stages of the proceedings or in the execution of sentences, stressing the importance of the free consent of the various parties to the restorative offer, which must be proposed to them in a clear and unconstrained manner – especially with respect to possible negative consequences or judicial sanctions;
• The Handbook on Restorative Justice Programmes (by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)) I. ed 2006;
• The Handbook on Restorative Justice Programmes (by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)) II. ed 2020;
• Art. 42 of the Kyoto Declaration of 7 March 2021 on ‘advancing crime prevention, criminal justice and the rule of law’, which identifies among the objectives of restorative justice that of curbing recidivism. Sustainable Development Goal 16 of the UN 2030 Agenda.