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de la Cuesta, Jose and Mesas, Francisco de Jorge and Vidosa, Fely Gonzalez and Mesas, Francisco de Jorge. The treatment of victims of crimes and offences in the Spanish system of justice

The authors maintain that Spanish law and criminal justice are primarily oriented toward determination of the offense and penal responsibility of the offender, not the interests of the victim. The victim does not have a significant status in Spanish criminal justice. Yet they note, as a first step, the emergence of some public offices to assist victims. With all of this in view, the authors examine certain aspects of the Spanish system with respect to victims: the criminal law; the procedural system; and the emerging offices for aid to victims. The section on these offices includes a brief history of them, and a sketch of the functioning of the office in Valencia and the criminal justice context there. As part of their examination, the authors present certain statistics on types of offenses, and the experiences of victims resulting from assistance they received. They conclude that efforts to address the needs and rights of victims are moving forward in Spain, but that much work remains to be done to increase the scope of victim assistance and integrate it into the criminal justice system.

Sole, Estel and Led, Pere. School Mediation in Catolonia.

This workshop will give information on an innovative programme in the educational field, involving more the 3.000 teachers, 1700 pupils and 400 parents and mothers in 173 public Schools of Secondary Education. This mediation system is quite different and exceptional from other school mediation systems because we work between students; there is not any adult present during the mediation process. Our mediation system called Mediation Between Students, was the first system trying to solve school problems without punishments in all schools in Catalonia. (excerpt)

Soria, Miguel Angel and Guillamat, Ansel. VOM with Adults and Recidivism.

The objective of our investigation is to analyze if the effects of the mediation process affect significantly the parts implied in it and, in second term, its later consequences to eliminate or to reduce the criminal and/or violent acts. To such aim, the judicial files of mediation made between year 2000 and the 2005, as well as its effects on the recidivism of the offenders and its characteristics, were analyzed. (excerpt)

Guillamat, Ansel and de la Camara, Belen and Casado, Clara and de la Camara, Belen. Victim and Offender Reintegration in a Serious Crime Case. learning from Mediation During the Sentence.

This workshop aims to share the reflections and lessons from a restorative mediation done in a sexual offence case in which the victim was the sister of an offender’s friend and where the victim’s husband and the father also participated. The mediation process was managed by two mediators within the Mediation-Restoration Programme operating in the criminal justice system in Catalonia since 1998. The referral came from the Figueres Penitentiary Centre, more precisely from the professionals in charge of the inmate’s rehabilitation needs and it lasted for approximately a year, finishing in April 2005. (excerpt)

de la Camara, Belen. VOM-programmes and their relation to judicial actors in the juvenile criminal justice system in Catalonia

Belen de la Camara in this paper explores the present relationship between professionals in charge of victim-offender (VOM) programs and the relevant authority in the criminal justice system in Catalonia (Spain), namely, the public prosecutor. To explain this, de la Camar first provides the wider legal and social policy context in Spain and in Catalonia (one of seventeen autonomous communities in Spain). This includes identification of recent legislation on VOM and the institutional framework for VOM in most of Spain’s autonomous communities. Then, within a framework of dependency and cooperation, de la Camara discusses key aspects of the relationship between VOM mediators and public prosecutors.

Martín Barberan, Jaume. Juvenile penal mediation in Spain, especially its development in Catalonia.

The European Commission’s Grotius II Criminal Programme initiated a project to address the need for better understanding of victim-offender mediation practices with juvenile offenders and justice systems in Europe. Under this project, studies were contracted and research papers produced to examine the situation in a number of European countries. Each study covered the following matters: norms and legislation allowing for the implementation of VOM programs; theoretical frameworks of VOM centers; organizational structure of VOM centers; categories and profiles of juvenile offenses; professional characteristics and job satisfaction of mediators; and advantages and criticisms of VOM. The papers were presented and discussed at a final seminar in Bologna, Italy, September 19-20, 2003. Within the categories mentioned above, this particular paper surveys victim-offender mediation with juveniles in the Catalonia, one of the autonomous regions or communities that make up Spain.

Dapena, José and Martín, Jaime. La Mediación Penal Juvenil en Cataluña, España.

En los ultimos 25 años, la dinámica de readaptación del marco legal y las políticas criminales, en relación a los jóvenes infractores, ha sido una constante en toda Europa. Este documento analizara como se ha comenzado a emplear los Métodos Alternativos de Resolución de Conflictos (MARC) en España para referirse a todas aquellas sanciones que pueden dictar los jueces de menores distintas de la del internamiento. Resumen por El Centro De Estudios de Justicia de las Américas, www.cejamericas.org

Dapena, José and Martín, Jaime. Mediation in Juvenile Criminal Cases-The Case of Catalonia

Over the last forty years, changes in Europe in the sphere of the juvenile justice system have allowed for a progressive diversification of responses to juvenile delinquency and strengthening alternatives to confinement.

Mediation in Catalonia

Jaime Martin and Jose Dapena are researchers and practitioners working with victim offender mediation in Spain. This article summarizes a paper outlining the development of mediation in juvenile justice with links to the full-text.