THE ROLE OF MUTUAL RECOGNITION IN HYBRID MEDIATION OF FAMILY-RELATED CRIMINAL DISPUTES

Abstract

Having regard to contemporary concepts of law it is easy to notice that many of them emphasize the role of communication and dialogue in law. Such dialog is based on mutual understanding or at least recognition of needs. The paper is an attempt to combine legal and social philosophy with theory and practice of mediation (mainly post-judgment mediation), including author's own experience as a mediator. The paper presents an interdisciplinary (within the legal sciences) approach, as it refers to both criminal and family law, to theory and practice of mediation and to legal theory and philosophy.First part of the paper deals with a selected type of mediation - post-sentence mediation in family and criminal cases. It shows both their hybrid nature and the pros and cons for mediation in such cases. The latter one refers to the theory of recognition, provided in the conception of law as communication.The theoretical and indirect aim of the article is to describe the recognition theory of A. Honneth against the background of the meta-need for recognition as a starting point for successful mediation. The direct and practical purpose is to emphasise the link between mediation (in general) and the recognition achieved through it and (in particular) with resolution of family disputes involving criminal elements.The paper is based on the relevant literature, legal provisions and complementarily police and mediation statistics. The paper is dominated by the logico-linguistic method, although some conclusions results from participant observation, i.e. the author's own mediation practice.As a conclusion, it was emphasised that the legal element is often only the 'tip of the iceberg' in disputes arising from family life, which, occasionally, determine the disputes governed by criminal law, and in such cases mediation serves as a multidisciplinary tool to achieve or restore mutual recognition and dignity.In its intention, the study is intended to imply both a better understanding of both the hybrid nature of mediation in family related criminal disputes and as well the role not to be underestimated of the non-legal element of recognition in their resolution. This, in turn, may have both theoretical implications (looking at family related criminal mediation not from the point of view of a discrepancies between branches of law, but through a holistic perspective) and practical implications (using mediation strategies and techniques to address the need for mutual recognition).