Mediation – alternative dispute resolution

Mediation

• is a voluntary, confidential process in which a neutral person - the mediator assists the parties to a dispute to negotiate a settlement of it.
• is the most commonly practised and functioning form of alternative dispute resolution not only in Great Britain but also in other countries of Europe, USA and Australia.

Characteristic features of mediation:

1.Facilitates the parties to arrive themselves to an agreement on the resolution of the dispute;

2.Can be used at any time either before, or in parallel with, litigation or arbitration;

3.Does not have any effect on the parties positions in litigation or arbitration if they do not succeed in settling the dispute;

4.It is quick, informal and relatively cheap to conduct;

5.It is confidential;    

6.Can be (and is) used in a wide range of disputes including commercial, civil, family/divorce, environmental, labour relations, and community/neighbourhood. It is also used in criminal law situations, usually under the heading “Restorative Justice”.

Project  - Strengthening access to justice in Slovakia

The project “Strengthening access to justice in Slovakia” was implemented on the basis of a bilateral cooperation between the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The objective of the project was assisting in the implementation of alternative dispute resolution in the form of mediation into the Slovak legal order.

It resulted in the drafting of a mediation in civil and commercial matters law that is in the legislative process now. After the adoption of the law a decrease in the incidence of cases in courts is expected as a consequence of resolving disputes through mediation before or in the course of court proceedings. The draft law is based on the models prepared by UNCITRAL, Council of Europe and other models as well as legal provisions of other countries where mediation is successful.

Under this project the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic organised several seminars in Bratislava (16 May 2002, 14 – 15 November 2002), Banská Bystrica (11 March 2003) and Košice (13 March 2003) with the aim to inform the professional and lay public on the new possibility of dispute resolution.

In September 2002 the Association of Mediators of Slovakia, which shall provide further training of mediators depending on the needs of the society and market, was established.

The funds from the project “Strengthening access to justice in Slovakia” were also used to give two basic mediator training courses (December 2002 at Senec, March 2003 at Tále).

Activities

The cooperation with British partners  continues under the PHARE programme and it focuses mainly on the promotion of mediation and informing the professional and lay public on the possibilities of its application.

The first activity under the project was the presentation of the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic focusing on alternative dispute resolution during the Ekotopfilm 2003 festival held in the Forum Hotel from 15 – 17 October 2003. The programme of the presentation was divided into two parts that focused on separate presentation of mediation to the professional public and the public at large.

The programme of the presentation was divided into two parts – the first one covered mediation in civil matters and the second one covered mediation in criminal cases.

The Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic is preparing a pilot project for selected district courts (DC Prešov, DC Banská Bystrica, DC Bratislava III) in cooperation with the representatives of courts and the British partners. The objective pursued is to recommend the parties to the dispute mediation and to attempt alternative dispute resolution directly at the court, in selected types of disputes. This way of informing the public was chosen in order the make use of the authority of the court and to give a certain weight and importance to mediation as an alternative to court settlement.

 Relevant information

In January 2004 the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic organised a training of judges and higher court officials who were informed of the possibilities of mediation and as experts from practice they contributed to the elaboration of the pilot project for courts with their proposals.

In January 2004 two working groups composed of mediators, judges and representatives of the Ministry of Justice made a study visit to the United Kingdom. The study visit focused on the beginnings of mediation in the United Kingdom, the way in which public was informed on mediation, mediation at the courts in the United Kingdom, projects implemented at the UK courts with the aim that judges - due to their authority - would recommend the partiers to the dispute to make use of mediation as a form of dispute resolution. The valuable experience acquired will be used in the implementation of projects in Slovakia.

On 24 – 25 March 2004 a conference to inform the public on the possibilities of mediation as an alternative dispute resolution tool, attended by renown mediators from EU Member States and the then acceding countries was organised by the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic in Bratislava.

The list of mediation centres

The list of mediation training institutions