Advocates are advised not to submit consent forms for participation in the Restorative Justice Program for minors

Advocates should refrain from submitting consent forms to legal aid centers for participation in the pilot restorative justice program involving minors when the interests of young children are at stake.

The Coordination Center for Legal Aid issued this recommendation in an informational letter dated April 1, 2026, No. 001/06-07/788, addressed to the UNBA, explaining that young children cannot participate in the restorative justice program in the form of mediation.

This refers to the pilot project «Restorative Justice Program involving minors who are suspects or accused of committing a criminal offense». The procedure for its implementation was approved by Order No. 2176/5/501/176 of July 22, 2024, issued jointly by the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Office of the Prosecutor General.

The Coordination Center analyzed the relationship between these Procedures and the Law «On mediation» as well as the provisions of the Civil Code regarding the legal capacity of minors and concluded that a minor cannot be a party to mediation.

After all, a natural person under the age of fourteen has only partial legal capacity; specifically, they may enter into minor transactions. A transaction is considered a minor everyday transaction if it satisfies the person’s everyday needs, corresponds to their physical, mental, or social development, and concerns an item of low value.

At the same time, the decision by the parties to mediation to enter into a mediation agreement and subsequently a settlement agreement based on the results of mediation, by which they assume corresponding obligations, constitutes a legal transaction rather than a minor domestic transaction, and accordingly gives rise to civil rights and obligations between the parties to such civil law agreements. A minor aged 14 or older already has the right to enter into legal transactions with the consent of their parents (adoptive parents) or guardians.

Based on this, the Coordination Center concludes that the parties to mediation under the Program may only be minors aged 14 to 18 who are suspects, defendants, or victims, subject to the mandatory written consent of their legal representatives. However, the legal representative does not assume the status of a party to the mediation in place of the child.

The letter also describes the consequences of mistakenly submitting consent. If the interregional center receives consent to participate in the Program in a case where one of the parties to the conflict is a minor, the center will be required by procedure to issue a mandate to the mediator. However, the mediator will have no legal grounds to conduct mediation involving a minor or their legal representative and must report that mediation cannot be conducted.

The full text of the informational letter from the Coordination Center for Legal Aid is available at this link.