Mediator’s Diary: More on Mediation and Its Varieties - Part 1

At the heart of our consumer dispute resolution procedure - ADR we use mediation as one of the most effective ways of out-of-court dispute resolution. Its indisputable advantages are the guarantee of equality of the parties in the process of negotiations between them, its non-binding nature, which gives freedom of action to the disputants, and the guarantee of its transparency and ethics is the requirement of impartiality, neutrality of the mediator. He/she is also obliged to observe the confidentiality of the information shared with him/her during the procedure.

We decided to tell a little more about this method, which has been used for thousands of years by humankind.

What is mediation and since when it dates back?

That's right, mediation has been around for millennia. It is believed that the first to use it were the Sumerians - a Mesopotamian civilization that lived in 4500-1900 BC. Even then, its benefits were appreciated.

Mediation is shorter, more efficient and more effective than court proceedings. With mediation the relations between the parties are preserved, and the decision is entirely in the hands of the negotiators. It is not the judge or the jury who decides the outcome of the dispute, but the disputants themselves. Their agreement is dictated by their common interests, skillfully identified by the mediator, who aims to guide the parties to unite around them in order to generate the maximum number of options. Among them stand out those that lead to a win-win agreement. The parties tend to adhere to its proper implementation because they themselves are interested in it, being the authors who created it.

The practice knows different types of mediation:

Facilitating Mediation

It is also called traditional mediation. In it, the mediator seeks to facilitate negotiations between the parties to the conflict. He/she does not make recommendations or impose decisions. His/her role is to identify the interests of the parties, to encourage them to reach a decision voluntarily, derived entirely from them, based on the intersections in their interests.

Mediation ordered by a court

Although mediation is a completely voluntary procedure, it can be imposed by the court to speed up finding a solution and save costs. If the parties or their lawyers do not show enthusiasm to participate in mediation, the chances of reaching an agreement in such mediation are slim. But if the parties are clearly aware of the benefits of such a procedure, the likelihood of reaching an agreement is significantly higher. This type of mediation is used in the mediation centers at the courts in Sofia, Varna, Pazardzhik and Pernik, where the procedure is free for the parties. It is applied mainly in divorce cases.

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If you are a trader and you like mediation as a way to find a solution to complex complaint cases quickly, easily, economically, while maintaining relationships with your customers, you can register in the ODR platform of the European Union.

Sources:

https://www.mediate.com/articles/vinther-history.cfm#:~:text=Many%20scholars%20believe%20that%20mediation,it%20appeared%20before%20the%20court.

https://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/mediation/types-mediation-choose-type-best-suited-conflict/