Conflict Regulation: Connections create solutions
NEUSTART is involved in promoting help instead of punishment (diversion).
Mediation in panel matters (Tatausgleich)
An out-of-court settlement – Mediation in Penal Matters (Tatausgleich) – is an alternative to a trial in the case of misdemeanour. The conflict regulator or mediator, an experienced social worker, creates the contact between the suspect and the victim and with both of them tries to achieve a settlement or reconciliation without a trial or a conviction. As a result, the suspect does not become criminalised but evades criminal record.
Here’s how it works
A social worker creates the contact between the suspect and the victim. The objective is that victim and suspect get to know and learn to understand each other in order to compensate for the damage caused and make forgiving possible. Furthermore, a fair and acceptable solution for all persons involved in the conflict has to be granted.
Preconditions for Tatausgleich
- proposal of the public prosecutor
- categorisation of the offence as minor
- agreement of the victim
- willingness of the suspect to talk with the victim, to compensate for damages and to accept further conditions
Example
Wolfgang only wanted to have a nice evening with a couple of friends. At the nightclub, however, it came to a quarrelling. Suddenly, Wolfgang became involved in a fight, although he usually dislikes physical violence. Now he has to answer for committing a criminal assault. A NEUSTART social worker creates the contact between Wolfgang and the victim. Together they find a fair and acceptable solution for all persons involved.
Success speaks for itself
An integral factor for the success of Mediation in Penal Matters is acceptance by the justice. Public Prosecution Services and courts assign around 5.000 cases a year to NEUSTART. NEUSTART has over 30 years of experience with circa 168,000 conflict regulations in which 300,000 persons, either as suspect or as victim, have been involved. In 70 percent of the cases, the social worker was able to bring suspect and victim to an agreement, with juveniles the success rate is even above 85 percent. The rate for repeat offences with Mediation in Penal Matters according to a study of the Institute for Criminal Law and Criminology of the University of Vienna (Institut für Strafrecht und Kriminologie) is around 10 percent, whereas the rate for repeat offences of persons, who have been convicted by a court for a comparable offence, is with 22 percent more than double as high.