The criminal defense lawyer and criminal mediation in Algeria

• An alternative to judicial proceedings: it allows for seeking solutions amicably rather than resorting systematically to litigious procedures.
• Reduction of judicial system overload: it frees up resources to handle more complex cases and ensures more efficient justice.
• Reparation of harm: it may include restitution measures or agreements aimed at compensating the victim.
• Preservation of social relationships: as it allows for reconciliation between the victim and the offender and contributes to ending conflicts between families.
• Active involvement of the parties: who play a direct role in resolving their case.

     By incorporating criminal mediation into their practice, criminal defense lawyers can offer their clients an approach that promotes reparation, reconciliation, and more efficient justice. This also strengthens lawyers’ ability to meet the specific needs of their clients while contributing to the overall improvement of the judicial system.

     Algerian criminal procedural law has integrated “criminal mediation” through Ordinance No. 15-02 of July 23, 2015, by adding to the Code the Chapter II bis entitled “Mediation,” comprising 10 articles. Article 37 bis provides that “the Public Prosecutor may, at his own initiative or at the request of the victim or the person concerned, and before any criminal prosecution, decide to resort to mediation when it is likely to end the disturbance resulting from the offense and to ensure the reparation of the resulting harm. Mediation is concluded by a written agreement between the author of the incriminated acts and the victim.”

     Article 37 bis 1 further states that “the mediation procedure is subject to the agreement of the victim and the person concerned. They may be assisted by a lawyer.”

     Finally, Article 37 bis 2 notes that criminal mediation does not apply to all offenses but only to the following misdemeanors and offenses:

• Insults,
• Defamation,
• Invasion of privacy,
• Threats,
• False denunciation,
• Abandonment of family,
• Voluntary failure to pay alimony,
• Non-representation of a child,
• Fraudulent appropriation or succession of goods before their sharing of common things or social fund,
• Issuance of checks without provision,
• Willful damage or destruction of others’ property,
• Unintentional and intentional assault and battery committed without premeditation or ambush or carrying of weapons,
• Trespass on real property and agricultural crops,
• Pasture on another’s land,
• Food or other service pilfering.