The Attorney General’s Office, commanded by Emilia Navas, warns of a risk to the functional independence of the Public Prosecutor’s Office if the draft law on Restorative Justice is approved.
The text, approved in the first reading, seeks the resolution of criminal conflicts in a “humane and integral” way, through a process that would involve the victim, the community, and the offending person.
However, the Public Prosecutor’s Office points out a number of aspects to be improved in at least two articles and several paragraphs of the bill, which open several questions that must be cleared before a legislative approval in the second reading.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, Article six of the bill represents a risk for the functional independence of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and it has inconsistencies. For example, a Restorative Justice Directorate is to be created, an organ that would be dependent on the magistrates and that becomes a governing body in this matter.
As for article 55 of the bill, it introduces subsection six bis in the Law for the Protection of Victims and Witnesses. With this, the Office of Attention to Victims of Crime is to be created, a restorative justice unit that will only address issues of restorative justice and opens a question about the turn of resources for that purpose.