The first deputy mayor of the Municipality of Totana, Juan José Cánovas, has raised a proposal to the plenary session on approval of a municipal ordinance on Education and Civics to commute financial penalties for services to the community.
The initiative was presented today to the media and is expected to be discussed at the next regular plenary session in July, with traffic and urban planning sanctions and repeated offenses, among others, to be exempted.
Juan José Cánovas has explained that in some occasions economic sanctions are not always the best way to raise awareness among offenders about the consequences of their actions.
In this way, Cánovas has proposed, for its study and approval, the elaboration of a municipal ordinance that contemplates the possibility of commuting pecuniary sanctions for work to the community.
Above all, when it comes to sanctions against minors, work in the community may be the best strategy when it comes to holding the perpetrators accountable, since in most cases it is the parents who they take charge of the payment of the sanction, which also supposes a grievance for the families with scarce economic resources or in situation of social exclusion that have to do in front of these economic sanctions, aggravating still more his situation.
The possibility of imposing these sanctions entails different positive consequences, such as avoiding the disproportionality of the pecuniary sanction with respect to the offense committed, making the sanction fall on the material perpetrator, while at the same time raising awareness of compliance with the rules and reparation. of the damage caused.
In addition, these works will provide a general benefit to the community, and the completion of mandatory training courses, a cultural, social, human and educational enrichment on the person who has violated the rule.
According to the motion, will be eligible for this measure, people of legal age or minors with the consent of their parents or legal guardians and will be considered work for the benefit of the community providing services of public interest activities, with social interest and value educational.
In the motion, it is proposed to approve the order so that a technical and legal team can be convened to analyze the applicable legal regulations and prepare a preliminary report prior to the preparation of the ordinance.
It is also suggested that the councils of Security, Social Welfare, Services and Infrastructures and Youth develop training plans for the selection and proper development of community works that are established in the ordinance.
Finally, it is suggested in the motion to establish a model that expressly and clearly contemplates the possibility of requesting, voluntarily, as an alternative to the economic sanction, the commutation of the sanction for work to the community;
as well as promoting agreements with the various NGOs and non-profit organizations with which the City Council collaborates with the participation of offenders in their social programs.
