VOM mediation in Spain: Present and future
(Translation of Abstract: M. Lourdes Fernandez Manzano - Spanish version)
Rosa María Freire
Since the beginning of the first experiences in criminal juvenile justice in the early 1990s in Catalonia, and the establishment of the first adult victim-offender mediation service in 2000 by the Catalan Department of Justice, victim-offender mediation (VOM) in Spain has traversed a long and bumpy road. In the mid-2000s, other governments, corporations and associations echoed this initiative, and taking the baton, held VOM programs in different parts of Spain. This was done with the support and complicity of judges and prosecutors, who in the absence of an explicit national legislation, looked toward Europe and their Recommendations and Marco-Decisions. Since 2005, the General Council of the Judicial Power has given support and elevated these experiences at a national level. With the creation in 2009 of a position of the General Council of the Judicial Power assigned to the coordination and promotion of mediation, it expressly assumed commitments on judicial training (initial and permanent), formalization of agreements, protocols and partnerships with public agencies and institutions, collection and processing data and elaborating statistics, information and supporting documentation in periodic reviews, among other tasks, with the stated purpose of helping to create a "culture of mediation". From the latest statistics produced, it can be concluded that this "culture" progresses, slowly but surely, in the field of VOM (in 2012 there have been 18.30% more of cases referred than in 2011) and the continued success stems from its high level of agreement (on a 75.19% of completed processes). Therefore, the future appears hopeful and expectant, waiting for the regulation of the VOM by the announced new Criminal Procedural Code
Rosa María Pérez Freire is originaly from Santiago de Compostela. She got his law degree at the University of Santiago and joined the judiciary in 1989. From 2000 to 2009, she was the Magistrate's at the Court No. 10 in Barcelona. At this stage, has referred a large number of criminal cases to the Victim Offender Mediation Program, collaborating closely with the Program and the Department of Justice in developing referral protocols. He has taught graduate courses at various universities and has led and participated as a speaker and expert at numerous conferences, courses and workshops on restorative justice and VOM in Europe and Latin America. He is a member of Gemme - European association of judges for mediation. She is founding partner of Gemme-Spain, national section incorporated in 2007. She is also the author of several publications in these areas. Currently she works as a Attorney of the Legal General Council of the Judiciary, aimed at the Judicial School since April 2009, where, among other duties, is responsible for the organization and teaching of VOM seminars, regarding continuous training for judges in active and as initial training for future judges.
