The fairytale of mediation in Greece starts in 2008. Back then, a group of forward thinkers (or disillusioned persons, depending on the angle of the view) took the first class on mediation in Greece (organised by CIArb) and a little later, they received the CIArb accreditation. A few more persons of the same mindset took…
Two days ago I attended a birthday party – one of Germany’s most active consumer conciliation bodies celebrated its ten-year anniversary. There was an interesting panel discussion on the role of consumer conciliation in Germany and in Europe, particularly given that the European Union has attempted to promote this service through its DIRECTIVE 2013/11/EU on…
Introductory Remarks Nine years after the enactment of Law 3898/2010, which was the first piece of legislation to regulate mediation in Greece in compliance with Directive 2008/52/EC on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters, and almost one year and a half after its replacement by Articles 178-206 of Law 4512/2018, Law 4640/2019…
At a lunch at Globe House, Temple Place in London in early 2006 on a balcony overlooking the Thames, the host, Michael Leathes, then an in-house corporate counsel with some years of user experience in mediation and the arb-med hybrid, asked me and the others present – Jeremy Lack, Tina Monberg, Miryana Nešić and Irena…
O wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us! It wad frae mony a blunder free us, An’ foolish notion. Robert Burns Those of us at the ‘Br’ end of the Brexit negotiation find it increasingly hard to know how others see us. Our media shovel up stories of…
Being a mediator brings surprises along the way. For me, I was presented with what turned out to be the biggest challenge of my professional career last November when the Cabinet Secretary for Health in Scotland appointed me to conduct a review of allegations made by staff (through whistle-blowers) of bullying and harassment in Scotland’s…
I am sorry for writing about Brexit again here. It is not as if Brexit matters that much. To readers of this blog outside of Europe perhaps not all. But I cannot resist it. I was thinking about writing about the Beatles and The Rolling Stones – arguably equally as UK-centric as Brexit. Well, I…
There is an old debate in mediation circles about the qualifications (formal and informal) that mediators need to mediate, and what specialist knowledge they are expected to have. In some countries, mediators are required to be qualified lawyers – so that the legislator has answered at least one of the questions in this old debate…
While the Brexit saga continues to make headlines around the world, the international mediation community should not forget to keep an eye on recent major developments in the field of ADR. The Civil Justice Council’s ADR working group has released its much anticipated final report on the use of ADR within the civil justice system…
In the house of a poor man, a lizard was accustomed to come to the table and thereby kept himself alive on crumbs. During this time, everything went well with both the animal and the host whose fortune grew. When the farmer became rich, he became angry at the beast. One morning, he wounded it…
