Abstract

The article analyses the development of penal mediation in Chile, from a theoretical, legal and practical perspective. It also attempts to make a historical account of the socio-legal movements that have taken place in Chile and which have contribute to the reception and development of penal mediation therein. The author identifies penal mediation as a specific practice of restorative justice, although also showing that this association in Chile is not at all uncontested. It ends with a reflection about the reasons why restorative justice processes have had yet a marginal place in Chilean criminal justice system, exploring among those reasons, the features of Chilean legal culture and the implementation of the criminal procedure reform during the last decade.