The program is provided for juvenile offenders. The aims of the project are the prevention of reoffending; compensation for the damage caused with the crime; and to maintain the chance for the juvenile to integrate into the society and become a useful member of it. These goals are in line with the principles of the Hungarian justice system and European standards; namely the education and protection of juveniles.

In order to expand the implementation of restorative justice and alternatives to imprisonment as stipulated in the National Strategy for Community Crime Prevention, an organizational reform of the Probation Service has been carried out. Since the reform the Probation Service is capable of controlling and supporting offenders sentenced to community sanctions and to introduce innovative programs to broaden the set of restorative methods and alternative sanctions. The latest results in this field are the introduction of victim-offender mediation in criminal proceedings and the establishment of special institutions where juvenile offenders are supervised by probation officers. The juveniles are provided with special trainings, programs and services which might help their reintegration by means of skills development or supporting services. The participation in the programs provided by the institutions is to be imposed by the prosecutor when postponing the arraignment and defining special rules of conduct for the young offender.

The following program was a pilot project for the extension of the set of special rules of conduct. It aimed for the establishment of a network where – primarily juvenile – offenders could serve their term in a useful way.

In 2007 the Probation Service obtained a grant to set up and operate a Restorative Program Network in Budapest. Thus, juveniles and young adult offenders provided compensation to the community for the consequences of the crimes committed by them. This type of restorative community sanction has been implemented in the framework of special rules of conduct imposed by the court; or in the frames of the agreement established in the victim-offender mediation. The Probation Service, which coordinated the delivery of the project invited several NGOs to participate in the program and set up a network with the involvement those which were motivated. While they were serving their term in a way that they complete restorative activities prescribed as special rules of conduct, the young offenders were supported by peer-mentors. These latter ones were university students, mostly from the faculty of law.

Twenty youngsters took part in the program. A quarter of them had committed vandalism (for example making graffiti), some others had been involved in acts of public nuisance (they tumbled trash-cans) or had inflicted grievous bodily harm. Most of the juveniles were boys and seventy percent of them were students or had a job during the program.

During the program the juveniles helped in the everyday activities of the organizations involved. Some of them – as a kind of symbolic compensation for the harm caused to society – took part in organizing free-time activities for children in need at the Swallow Family Counseling Service. The Bud Foundation obliged the juveniles to arrange public spaces or to clean up natural reserves. Juveniles working with professionals and volunteers of the Bed Theatre Foundation tried to help children in hospital to make it easier for them to deal with their illness by talking and playing board games with them.

In the general experience of the organizers the direct results are palpable. The compensation stands in contrast with the committed crime. It can function as a mirror because the juveniles are able to experience directly how much harm, anger and work could be caused by their felony. During the project the young offenders worked together with employees of the civil organizations. This structure modeled the real social scene; the professionals showed a good example through working together with the juveniles and expected only as much as they performed as well. Based on the opinion of the professionals working for the NGOs the sense of responsibility of the members of the target group improved, they had the possibility to be placed in a situation where they could help others and feel how much more precious is to stand “on the other side”. Usually the members of the wider community who saw the volunteers working appreciated their activity thanks to which the compensation became fully accomplished. Even the involved civil organizations benefited from the program. They are usually lacking employees or volunteers for substantial but necessary works. The juveniles filled this gap as well.

The minors involved in the program were protected from being excluded, they were given a chance to become useful members of their neighborhood and to restore the harms caused by their crimes. Furthermore we all benefited from the program because salutary work was done and we successfully prevented youngsters from reoffending.

The Hungarian criminal policy is committed to broadening the application of restorative methods and proceedings in the field of the justice system. Relating to juvenile offenders, principles of restorative justice shall be strongly relevant and used. We are convinced of that if the offender has to face the consequences of his or her act, the resulting respect for the victim’s interests and the conciliation of the community significantly contribute to the reintegration of offenders and the peace of the whole community.