In court, the victims are usually witnesses and cannot ask questions. They do not have a say in the verdict against the perpetrator. It is different in the case of perpetrator-victim mediation. The two start talking and agree on making amends – but less and less often.
Magdeburg (dpa/sa) – In Saxony-Anhalt, the number of cases in perpetrator-victim mediation has decreased significantly in the past year. 555 cases were closed after 640 in the previous year, as the project manager for offender-victim compensation (TOA) in Saxony-Anhalt, Tobias Lentzy, said in Magdeburg. 66.31 percent of the cases were settled. As a result, a total of around 35,000 euros in damages and 25,500 euros in compensation for pain and suffering were agreed, as well as 1050 working hours as well as gifts, excursions and adventure days.
A good half of the cases in 2021 were due to physical injuries, as Lentzy explained. Often it was also about property damage, fraud, insults. All in all, 624 perpetrators and 596 victims were involved in the TOA proceedings. Lentzy said the decline in cases was mainly due to fewer cases of dangerous bodily harm, and fewer thefts and damage to property were also dealt with. While the TOA was used more frequently in adolescents up to the age of 21, the numbers in adults declined.
Perpetrator-victim mediation is not about punishment and retaliation, but perpetrator and victim talk to each other and there is a reparation wanted by both sides. Eleven arbitrators in the country are mainly assigned cases by public prosecutors and courts. In this way criminal proceedings can be avoided. At the same time, feelings, fears, suffering, worries and also wishes come into play in contrast to criminal proceedings in court. However, both the perpetrator and the victim must voluntarily agree to this.
Lentzy said 425 of the 555 cases were assigned by public prosecutors last year. However, 170,465 criminal offenses were recorded in the police crime statistics. Thus, only 0.25 percent of all investigations that were reported and initiated ex officio reached the perpetrator-victim mediation.
Lentzy thinks the TOA should get more attention and application. Especially since a spiral is taking effect: if the arbitrators get fewer cases on the table, the project sponsors get less money. The decrease in cases between 2017 and 2021 was 25.4 percent. This resulted in a drop of 19.5 percent in the funded weekly working hours. “Of course, this has an impact on the network structure of the TOA.”
In 2020, the project sponsor in Stendal stopped working in the TOA, and in 2021 the offenders’ aid association in Halberstadt was dissolved. A sponsor from Magdeburg will no longer submit a new TOA project application as of July 1, 2022.
In Saxony-Anhalt, the perpetrator-victim compensation scheme is financed with funds from the European Social Fund and the state – but funding for the coming years is still uncertain. So far, there has only been one commitment for the period up to October 31, 2022. Lentzy said the independent sponsors had little financial leeway. They would have maintained the offers even during the pandemic and are now losing trust in the funding agencies. Lentzy said there are already layoffs.
