Accesso alla giustizia e modelli partecipativi in Canada: spunti di riflessione per l’Italia

This paper provides a brief description of the model of participatory
justice that is emerging in Canada. Participatory justice promotes new
forms of conflict resolution, based on the voluntariness and confidentiality,
as well as the participation of all parties to the management of conflict.
The 2003 Canadian Law Commission’s report on «Transforming Relationships
Through Participatory Justice» underscores the political effort
and spirit of reform that are guiding policies towards a justice system
which is both more satisfactory and more suitable to the needs of citizens.
In the Report the expression «participatory justice» refers to two forms of
justice: restorative justice and consensus-based justice. The first one refers
to a process for resolving conflicts between victim and offender in criminal
matters; the second one refers to methods for resolving conflicts in
civil matters (i.e. commercial and familiar). The Canadian model provides
an answer to the crisis in the contemporary adjudicative systems based on
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the public and formal processes, and at the same time illustrates a legal
paradigm shift: from a decision-based model to a participation-based one.
In 2010 Italian legislator introduced mediation as an alternative form of
dispute resolution in civil and commercial matters in order to reduce the
burden of the Courts. This reform has not been successful so far because,
unlike in the Canadian situation, the Italian lawmakers have introduced
mediation into the civil justice system without reforming the framework
of its principles.