We accompany Chile in the modernisation of its Juvenile Justice System

The Chilean Ministry of Justice and Human Rights and the Chilean Agency for International Development Cooperation (AGCID), together with the strategic collaboration of the EUROsociAL Bridge programme, co-led by the FIIAPP, have launched a cycle of trainings for the implementation of the juvenile criminal mediation programme within the framework of the reform established by Law No. 21.527, which marks a significant milestone in the transformation of the juvenile justice system in Chile.

The implementation of this law is an ongoing effort to improve the juvenile justice system, focusing on the principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and international law. “The introduction of juvenile penal mediation is a crucial innovation that seeks to improve the capacity of the system to achieve the social reintegration of young people and to leave crime behind”, underlined the Undersecretary of Justice, Jaime Gajardo Falcón.

Since 2017, the Ministry of Justice has been working on a pilot project, identifying key challenges in coordination between institutional actors with a view to generating greater knowledge about restorative justice. The European Union, through EUROsociAL, has since provided technical assistance to enable the Ministry and other actors to overcome these challenges and achieve effective implementation of juvenile penal mediation.

Benoît Larielle, Cooperation Attaché of the European Union Delegation in Chile, highlighted the European Union’s commitment to this process. He also stressed the importance of developing alternatives to judicial action, and of juvenile justice with a focus on re-education and social reintegration. Larielle stressed the key role played by cooperation in connecting similar public administrations, in this case Chile and the EU, promoting mutual learning.

“International cooperation is essential to promote the changes that the citizens of Latin America require. AGCID, in its capacity as national focal point of the Eurosocial programme, is committed to national and regional development and will continue to work together with the European Union to strengthen cooperation alliances that allow us to move together on a path of greater democracy and social equity”, said Daniel Castillo, Head (s) of the Cooperation Division of AGCID.

The next actions include workshops in the Northern Macro-zone for the team of mediators who have joined the new system and for justice system operators, with the aim of training and raising awareness about what this new system of juvenile social reintegration implies and specifically criminal mediation. Finally, a national seminar will be held in Santiago de Chile.