The Council of Europe Project “Protecting the Rights of Ukrainian Children and Ensuring Child-Friendly Justice”, in cooperation with the Coordination Centre for Free Legal Aid, has organised on 26-29 October 2026 a 4-day offline training session within the 3rd specialised training programme for mediators “Mediation in Restorative Justice Involving children”, which runs from 3 August to 19 November 2026. The training programme consists of 17 training modules in hybrid format that include at least 70 hours of lectures, practical sessions and assessment of acquired competencies and designed to support provision of mediation services to resolve the conflict in criminal proceedings involving the victim and a child as a suspect (accused).
29 mediators from different regions of Ukraine, registered in the Register of Mediators, successfully completed the practical session. Offline sessions included simulations aimed at enhancement of mediators’ legal, procedural and reflective knowledge and competencies in restorative justice in criminal cases involving children. The training also covered mediation agreements, informing prosecutors or courts, consideration and monitoring of mediation outcomes, and the mediator’s role in resocialisation and reintegration. Through interactive exercises, use of digital tools, well balanced group and individual work participants were able to practice these skills in group simulations involving cases of violent offences committed by children and learned the purpose, principles and practice of restorative circles.
This specialised training programme strengthens mediators’ professional capacity to apply restorative justice approaches in criminal proceedings involving children, while safeguarding the rights and interests of both victims and minors suspected or accused of offences. This investment in professional expertise is an important step towards further development of child-friendly justice in Ukraine, while promoting accountability, rehabilitation and the successful reintegration of children into society.
The Council of Europe Project “Protecting the rights of Ukrainian children and ensuring child-friendly justice” is implemented by the Council of Europe within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine "Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction" for 2023-2026.
