The cooperative defends that dialogue, active listening and repairing relationships must be part of the legal framework for participation in Catalonia.
From INSTA – Serveis Jurídics Ambientals we have submitted our contributions to the Draft Bill on Citizen Participation of the Generalitat de Catalunya. The objective is to incorporate the concept of restorative practices as a key element to improve democratic quality and social cohesion.
Restorative practices can contribute significantly in three areas of law:
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Principles and values (articles 4 and 6): introducing restorative culture as an inspiring principle of participation.
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Participation methodologies (articles 19 and 29): including dialogue circles and other restorative formats in the instruments and phases of deliberation.
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System of guarantees and evaluation (articles 33 and 44): using restorative procedures to evaluate the effectiveness of processes and repair violations of rights.
Among the amendments presented, the incorporation of a new principle of restorative culture within the initial articles, the possibility of including restorative mechanisms to manage tensions between administration and citizens, and the inclusion of their effectiveness as an evaluation criterion stand out.
Finally, we also propose reformulating article 44 so that it explicitly contemplates the use of restorative procedures as reparation measures in the event of a breach of the rights of the participating persons.
With these contributions, INSTA reaffirms our conviction that quality citizen participation is not just about listening, but also about creating spaces for respectful dialogue, managing disagreements constructively, and repairing trust when necessary.
