What Is the Conciliator Fee?
In criminal justice, conciliation is an alternative dispute resolution method that aims, in respect of certain offences, to bring the victim together with the suspect or the accused and to resolve the dispute without the need for a trial. This process is conducted by an impartial conciliator. The sum the conciliator receives in return for the work performed is called the conciliator fee. This fee is not a freely negotiated amount set by the parties; it is calculated according to the official tariff published each year by the Ministry of Justice and, as a rule, is borne by the State.
Understanding how the conciliator fee is calculated matters both for those who serve as conciliators and for the parties involved in the process. In this article we address, within an institutional framework, the legal basis of the conciliator fee, the logic of the tariff, the points to be observed in the calculation and the mistakes commonly made.
Legal Basis and Basic Concepts
The institution of conciliation is governed by the Criminal Procedure Code No. 5271. The details concerning how the process operates and the conciliator's fee are set out in the Regulation on Conciliation in Criminal Procedure and in the Conciliator Fee Tariff published as an annex to this regulation and updated each year. The tariff is generally renewed at the start of the year and applied to conciliators appointed during that calendar year.
To assess the matter correctly, a few concepts need to be distinguished:
- Conciliator: A person registered in the conciliator roll, who has received the required training and is generally a law faculty graduate or meets certain conditions. They bring the parties together and conduct the conciliation process.
- Conciliation office: The unit established within the office of the Chief Public Prosecutor that distributes files to conciliators and supervises the process.
- Fixed fee: The set amount determined in the tariff for each type of offence and accepted as the base. The calculation starts from this fixed amount.
- Conclusion with / without agreement: Expresses whether the process ended with the parties reaching agreement or failing to agree, and affects the fee to be paid.
An important point is this: the conciliator fee is, as a rule, borne by the State treasury as a litigation cost. When the matter concludes with agreement at the investigation stage, this cost is not sought; however, at the prosecution stage, depending on the course of the file and the situation of conviction, the cost may be charged to the accused. For this reason, neither party pays the fee directly; payment is made through the office in accordance with the tariff.
How Is the Conciliator Fee Calculated?
The essence of the calculation rests on the tariff. In the tariff, the fee is not an abstract percentage but is built on fixed amounts determined according to the type of offence, together with the increase of these amounts in certain situations. Let us look at it step by step:
1. Determining the Type of Offence
The tariff groups offences according to their nature and provides a different fixed fee for each group. For example, the base amount set for offences that require comparatively less effort — such as simple battery, insult and threat — may differ from the amount set for more complex offences or those requiring more examination. For this reason, the first step of the calculation is to correctly identify under which item in the tariff the offence to which the file relates falls.
2. Taking the Number of Parties into Account
The presence of more than one victim or more than one suspect/accused in a file increases the conciliator's workload. In the tariff, this situation is addressed by increasing the fixed fee at certain rates depending on the number of parties. As the number of persons increases, the total fee payable also rises progressively.
3. Determination According to the Outcome
Whether the process concluded with or without agreement may also affect the fee. The conciliator is entitled to the fee provided for in the tariff in return for the process conducted and the report prepared, even if the parties do not reach agreement; in files concluded with agreement, certain items may differ. What matters is that the task has actually been carried out and that the report has been drawn up in accordance with proper procedure.
The tool on this page uses the same logic to provide a quick estimate: based on the offence type, number of parties and outcome you select, it produces an approximate conciliator fee. However, the result is an approximate value produced without taking into account the full text of the current tariff, the particular features of the file and the office's assessment.
Points to Watch
- The current tariff is essential: The tariff is renewed each year. A calculation made with the previous year's figures does not reflect the actual fee for the current year. The tariff in force on the date of appointment is taken as the basis.
- The parties cannot negotiate the fee: No agreement on the fee is made between the conciliator and the parties. The fee is tied to the tariff and is determined and paid by the office.
- Charging of the cost: If conciliation is achieved at the investigation stage, the conciliator fee is recorded as a public cost and is not sought from the suspect. In cases of conviction at the prosecution stage, charging this cost to the accused may come into question.
- Multiple files and joinder: Assigning more than one file to the same conciliator gives rise to a separate fee for each file; however, in situations such as actual joinder and overlap of parties, the assessment is made specifically for the file.
The Importance of the Process and the Report
The conciliator's entitlement to the fee depends on the process being conducted in accordance with proper procedure and on the conciliation report being prepared correctly. After receiving the letter of appointment, the conciliator reaches the parties, conveys the conciliation offer, conducts the negotiations and submits the outcome to the office by way of a report. This report is the fundamental document evidencing both how the process operated and the outcome reached.
Payment of the fee takes place after the report is delivered to the office and examined. In a process conducted incompletely or improperly, payment of the fee may be delayed or become disputed. For this reason, it is of great importance that the conciliator scrupulously complies with the scope of the appointment, the time limits and the formal rules. For the parties, meanwhile, the process operating swiftly and fairly ensures that the case concludes without being prolonged.
Common Mistakes
- Calculating with the old tariff: Because the tariff is updated annually, a calculation made with figures from a past year comes out below or above the actual fee.
- Matching the offence type incorrectly: Placing the offence to which the file relates under the wrong item in the tariff leads to setting off from an incorrect fixed amount from the outset.
- Not taking the number of parties into account: When no increase is applied in multi-party files, the fee is calculated short.
- Thinking that the parties will pay the fee: The conciliator fee is, as a rule, borne by the State; it is not correct to demand a fee directly from the victim or the suspect.
- Thinking that no fee arises where there is no agreement: Even if the parties do not reach agreement, the conciliator may be entitled to the fee provided for in the tariff in return for a process conducted in accordance with proper procedure and a report.
A Short Example Scenario
Let us imagine a file relating to a simple offence of insult, with a single victim and a single suspect. The fixed fee set in the current year's tariff for this type of offence is taken as the basis and, since the number of parties is limited to one person, no additional increase comes into question; if the process concludes with agreement, the conciliator is entitled to the amount in the tariff. If we assume that in the same file the number of victims rises to three, the total fee exceeds the fixed amount as the increase rates provided for in the tariff are applied. This example is intended only to illustrate the method; in a real file, the current text of the tariff, the nature of the offence and the office's assessment may change the outcome considerably.
Conclusion
The conciliator fee is the tariff-based counter-value of the effort that enables the alternative dispute resolution route in criminal justice to function. The method above and the tool on this page give you a starting point; however, every file differs in its offence type, number of parties and outcome, and the tariff is renewed each year. For a correct and up-to-date calculation, it is advisable to take as the basis the official tariff in force on the date of appointment and, in case of doubt, to consult the conciliation office or a lawyer. This content is for general information purposes and does not constitute definitive legal advice regarding your specific situation.