الوساطة الجزائية في ظل قانون حماية الطفل

Abstract

In light of the continuos increase in the phenomenon of juvenile delinquency, recent legislation has adopted a new policy to limit this phenomenon and protect society from it. This involves the introduction of new methods to confront it, one of which is criminal mediation, which has been adopted by various legislations around the world, including France, Belgium, the United States, Canada, and other Western countries. Arab countries, including Egypt and Tunisia, have also turned in the same direction, as well as the Algerian legislator, who introduced it under Law 15-12 concerning child protection dated July 15, 2015, to resolve disputes related to juvenile delinquency. Criminal mediation is based on negotiations between the delinquent child and their legal representative or lawyer, and on the other hand, the victim or their rights holders. This procedure takes place in the presence of the mediator, whose task is limited to bringing the parties in dispute closer together in order to resolve the conflict amicably and without resorting to initiating public prosecution and appearing before the court. The agreement of the parties to the dispute to conduct mediation results in the suspension of the statute of limitations for the public prosecution. If the mediation agreement is implemented, the public case is dismissed and the file is kept administratively at the prosecution office. However, if the mediation agreement is not implemented, the file is referred to the public prosecutor to take action on the public case and to follow up on the juvenile offender, either by referring the file to the juvenile judge or to the juvenile section due to the commission of a criminal act