Benefits of mediation  

In mediation the parties can encounter each other in good faith and personally affect the outcome of their own case. The victim and the offender get to carry on a dialogue about crime and its consequences. The victim gets an opportunity to receive satisfaction, the offender to compensate and take responsibility.

The agreements to compensate for damages that are made in mediation are generally fulfilled well. The victim’s chances of getting compensation for damages through mediation are therefore quite good. The possibility of agreeing on a payment plan and the alternative ways of compensating help the offender to cope with his/her responsibility.

A settlement through mediation can be taken into account in the consideration of charges and in the sentencing and meting out of the punishment (Law on Judicial Proceedings in Criminal Cases; Penal Code, Chapter 3, Section 5, Paragraph 3 and Chapter 6, Section 3, Paragraph 3). In complainant offences, a settlement through mediation terminates the judicial proceedings if the complainant drops his/her summary penal order.