Penal mediation service in a Basque urban local court

Abstract

In the debate on ways to obtain justice, the writer, lecturer of Jurisdictional Law -the branch of Law that studies the performance of judges in exercising their judicial function-, defends strongly, in line with the global movement Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), that jurisdiction -understanding this one as judges that act in Spanish courts and the function that the latter develop there-, is not the only mechanism for resolving legal disputes. It is not the only way citizens have to obtain justice. Neither the only mechanism that recognizes and provides the State in order to. This statement can be specifically applied to criminal disputes, to crimes or offenses and misdemeanours. Developing this idea, next lines we intend to study in depth penal mediation as extrajurisdictional formula or way to solve penal disputes. After looking at its genesis, basis and development in the Spanish legal system, we are analyzing how a penal mediation service works in a Basque urban local court.