The Role of Restorative Justice in Reducing Recidivism in Spain and Colombia

Abstract

The paper examines how restorative justice can be used to address recidivism in these two countries Spain and Colombia which have different legal traditions and socio-political backgrounds. Restorative justice provides a different solution to the traditional punitive model because it focuses on dialogue, responsibility, and restoration among the offender, victim, and community. In Spain, restorative justice has been implemented mainly in juvenile and to a few adult jurisdictions, whereas it is demonstrated that pilot schemes like the victim-offender mediation made significant decreases in recidivism rates. The restorative processes involve offenders who are more inclined to embrace responsibility and become successfully re-integrated into society when partaking in the regional programs, specifically in Catalonia. In turn, after several decades of armed struggle Colombia employs an approach of restorative justice in both framing including criminal justices framing and as a wider transitional justice framing. In the 2016 peace agreement, with the creation of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), restorative principles are reflected in giving emphasis to the process of determining the truth, the inclusion of victims, and community-based reparations. There is also the fact that Colombia provides community-based programs like the Casa de-Justicia centers, providing restorative options to juvenile offenders, which helps in decreasing recidivism in urban areas. Comparison of the styles of both countries has been investigating in the paper, and the important success factors, which are voluntariness, legal support, community implementation, and highly skilled specialists as facilitators, are also pointed out in the paper. Research concluded that restorative justice is not a universal strategy, but its flexibility and orientation to human relations makes it an effective solution to prevent a repeat offense and fostering social peace. The data indicate that the benefits of restorative justice might be achieved through increased institutional support, popular education, and cross-sector collaboration.