Restorative Justice – Meeting between Magistrates and Mediators from Central and South America and the Community Mediation Group

It was held at the Parrocchia Sant’Agnese ai Danisinni an international meeting between a delegation of 11 magistrates and mediators from Mexico, Costa Rica and Colombia and the Community Mediation Group, composed of Operators of the Mediations Operations Unit of the City of Palermo, of the Pedro Arrupe Political Training Institute, of the Diaconal Center “La Noce Istituto Valdese” and the Istituto Opera Don Calabria.

The meeting, organized under the “Proyecto Regional de Fortalecimiento de la Justicia Restaurativa”, has hosted the community of some women of the Danisinni who have been experimenting the Restorative Justice, finalized to the creation of a Community Mediation Unit for the alternative management of social and community conflicts.

An opportunity for dialogue, for a comparison, for theoretical / practical exchange on mediation and Restorative Justice, which for years has been committed by the Mediation Unit of the City of Palermo. A meeting of stories, personal and professional experiences starting from the district of Danisinni involving the representatives of the three countries of Central and South America (Colombia: 3 Magistrates of the Superior Council of the Judiciary, Mexico: 1 Magistrate and 3 Mediators, Costa Rica: 1 Director of the First School of Training and 3 Operators of the Regional Project for Restorative Justice).

Restorative justice is an approach to justice that personalizes the crime by having the victims and the offenders mediate a restitution agreement to the satisfaction of each, as well as involving the community. This contrasts to more punitive approaches where the main aim is retributivejustice or to satisfy abstract legal principles.