Governmental and nongovernmental sectors will cooperate to implement mediation procedures

The Prosecutor General’s Office (PG) and the Institute for Penal Reform (IRP) will cooperate with a view to implementing mediation procedures in criminal cases. A relevant agreement was signed on Tuesday, March 11, Info-Prim Neo reports, citing the PG’s press office. The intention is to establish long-lasting relations between the governmental and nongovernmental sectors in reforming the criminal justice system through implementing alternatives to imprisonment, in accordance with universal and European standards and practices. Under the agreement, the parties committed themselves to inform each other in the area of restorative justice, to establish a mechanism of passing relevant cases from the prosecution institution to the mediation services, to carry out joint programs for reforming the criminal justice system. Mediation implies minimal costs, considerably reducing the number of imprisonment cases among persons convicted of minor or less serious offenses, Moldovan Prosecutor General Valeriu Gurbulea stated at the signing ceremony. According to IRP director Igor Dolea, a restorative justice approach to offending practices encourages the active participation of both victim and offender in criminal proceedings, which contributes to ensuring equity and strengthening security in a community. Mediation is a dialogue which offers the victim and the offender the possibility to find a fair solution to a dispute resulting from a committed offense. Mediation is possible at any moment of the trial before the judge withdraws to decide.