On the implementation of mediation techniques in the juvenile justice

The last decade saw more attention of the government and civil society to the problems of formation and development of a supportive, humane and safe environment for the development and socialization of children and ado1escents. To a large degree this is supported by the adoption of new regulatory acts and introduction of amendments into the current Russian legislation. In 2001, Russia signed the European Convention on the Exercise of Children's Rights. For that purpose the state had to bring its legislation into conformity with the generally recognized principles and norms of international law, international treaties in which Russia participates and international standards of children's rights and with the recommendations of the Council of Europe on justice related to the protection of the rights and interests of children. Moreover, the expected accession of Russia to the Convention on the International Order of alimony recovery and other forms of family support (dated of 2007) requires from Russian Federation to fulfill international obligations to introduce new norms and standards, new principles, techniques and approaches, including mediation and restorative approaches. Nowadays it can be said that much work has been done in this field, including a number of regulations aimed at launching schools of conciliation and school mediation. Firstly, the section "The development of social institutions and social policy" of the Concept of long-term socio-economic development of the Russian Federation until 2020 includes the formation and development of restorative justice mechanisms, introduction of probation service providing social and psychological support for people released from prison, rehabilitation content of court sentences in the implementation of compulsory educational measures, and implementation of restorative justice technologies and mediation procedures. Secondly, the National Strategy for Action on Children in the 2012-2017 contains Section VI "The system of protection of the rights and interests of children and child-friendly justice". As measures aimed at reforming the legislation of the Russian Federation related to the protection of the rights and interests of children, this section includes among others: - development of the concept for the codification of the legislation of the Russian Federation related to the implementation of juvenile justice and development of appropriate federal laws; - development of a program of restorative justice for children who have committed socially dangerous acts, but have not reached the age of criminal responsibility. This program provides a set of educational measures and socio-psychological and pedagogical support, as well as cooperation between courts and law enforcement agencies with experts on juvenile technologies - mediators, psychologists, social educators and social workers. Besides, the National Strategy for Action on Children in the development of friendly child justice envisages a network of conciliation services to implement restorative justice and school reconciliation services aimed at conflict resolution in educational institutions, prevention of juvenile delinquency and improvement of relations in an educational institution.

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