The exchange of experiences in restorative justice in Colombia begins
With European Union funding as one of the activities of the Regional Project Strengthening Restorative Justice, from 6th to 10th November, the Costa Rican Delegation of the Costa Rican Program on Restorative Justice began an exchange of experiences on this subject in Colombia.
The Costa Rican representation is made up by the assistant prosecutor for vulnerable populations, Edgar Ramírez Villalobos, the coordinator of the Juvenile Public Criminal Defense, Alejandro Montero Acuña, the judge of appeal of Juvenile Criminal Sentence and facilitator of the Judicial School in Restorative Justice, Mariannela Corrales Pampillo, the Supervisor of Restorative Justice Psychology, Karol Segura Cortes, the National Restorative Justice Coordinator, Adriana Ramírez Cover and the Project Executor, Jovanna Calderón Altamirano who, together with the Delegations of Mexico and Colombia, participate in the exchange of successful Restorative Justice experiences.
For the Representative of the Technical Assistance ADELANTE, Laura Cabral and liaison with the Cooperation of the European Union: "... of 85 projects that were selected 9, and this is the only project that is being implemented by the Judiciary and the first to be funded in this area of Restorative Justice".
On its first day, the delegation learned about the socio-political situation of that country and guided visits were made to different parts such as the Museum of the University of Rosario in Bogota. On the second day, the delegations from Costa Rica, Colombia and Mexico learned about the regulations and application of Restorative Justice in Colombia, as well as the future vision of a bill on Restorative Justice that is in the legislative current of that country. In addition, first-hand information was obtained on the training of trainers from the Judicial School, Rodrigo Lara Bonilla of Colombia, through tours of the facilities and listening to the methodology and creation of training modules with their respective publications.
This Wednesday the delegations from Costa Rica and Mexico, during their observation visit to Colombia, participated in panels on Restorative Justice in Indigenous Law and the use of Justice and Peace Courts for the solution of restorative processes between offenders sentenced for the commission of crimes during the Colombian armed conflict and their victims, in order to compensate for the damage caused to them. On that day, they also participated as observers in a hearing held by that court to hear the incident of reparation for the damage suffered by the victims of these conflicts. The day ended with a visit to the District Restorative Justice Programme, where they received talks on the application of restorative juvenile justice in Bogotá.
