Judicial operators and citizens claim the continuity of the mediation service in courts number 2 and number 3 of Granadilla de Abona, considering it “essential” in conflict resolution and contributing to reducing litigiousness, avoiding unnecessary lawsuits, in an overwhelmed judicial district and at the edge of collapse.
The first point in the South of intrajudicial mediation -so called because it deals with procedures already initiated in the courts- began to function in April 2022 at the initiative of the Bar Association of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in collaboration with the Courts of First Instance and Instruction Number 2 and Number 3 of Granadilla, the Government of the Canary Islands and the southern city council.
The service has been maintained until the end of November, when the budget item authorized for this purpose by the Ministry of Public Administrations, Justice and Security was exhausted.
Intrajudicial mediation is applied in those cases in which the judge considers that the parties can explore a solution through the figure of a third person in family disputes (divorces, alimony and custody, among others), conflicts between neighbors (border disputes, mostly) and other minor criminal offences.
Judicial sources emphasize that this tool represents a “new model” to resolve conflicts and highlight the “unprecedented climate of cooperation” generated in Granadilla through a resource that promotes “more personalized, humane and prompt” attention.
Fifteen days
In this sense, they highlight that in the seven months that the service has been provided, trials for minor crimes have been updated. Of the 42 cases submitted to mediation in criminal matters, 35 agreements were reached, representing a success rate of 83%. In addition, they emphasize that the time elapsed from the time the referral was made until the parties were summoned did not exceed 15 days.
As this newspaper was able to learn, through this service disputes that had been pending resolution for more than 15 years have been put to an end. The sources consulted also value the savings in effort and resources that mediation entails for the Administration of Justice.
The vice dean of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Bar Association, Mila Pacheco, told this newspaper that she is confident that the intrajudicial mediation service will be restored this year in Granadilla after the “great effort” made to start it up. The lawyer described the operation of this resource as “very positive” and thanked the mediation staff for their work.
