VOM-programmes and their relation to judicial actors in the juvenile criminal justice system in Catalonia

Source: (2002) In Restorative Justice and its Relation to the Criminal Justice System: Papers from the second conference of the European Forum for Victim-Offender Mediation and Restorative Justice, Oostende, Belgium, 10-12 October. Pp. 29-31, 33-34. Downloaded 23 February 2005.

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.