The Criminal Mediation System (SMP) is competent to mediate disputes arising from the commission of certain crimes. For Criminal Mediation to exist, it is necessary that:
- there be a criminal proceeding;
- the crimes in question be depended on private prosecution or be crimes against people or property whose criminal proceedings depend upon a complaint;
- the type of crime in question carries a prison sentence of up to 5 years or a fine;
- the offended party is 16 years of age or older;
- no crimes against freedom or sexual self-determination are involved;
- the form of procedure in question must not be a summary and fast procedure
During the phase in which the commission of a crime is investigated (inquiry phase), the defendant and the offended party may voluntarily and by joint decision request the Public Prosecution Service to refer the case to Mediation. The Public Prosecution Service may also, during the same inquiry phase and if it has collected evidence of the commission of the crime and of the offender, refer the case to Mediation, if it believes that this is the way to respond to the need for prevention in the case. In that event, there will only be Mediation if the defendant and the offended party agree. Whenever the Mediation results in an agreement, the Public Prosecution Service must verify whether it is legal and, if so, the agreement is equivalent to the withdrawal of the complaint by the offended party and to the non-opposition of the defendant.
The SMP operates in the districts of Alentejo Litoral, Baixo Vouga, Barreiro, Braga, Cascais, Coimbra, Greater Lisbon Northwest, Loures, Moita, Montijo, Porto, Setúbal, Santa Maria da Feira, Seixal and Vila Nova de Gaia.
The procedure is forwarded to criminal mediation by the Public Prosecution Service, on its own initiative, or at the request of both the offended party and the defendant.