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…

The good news is that the Romanian Government has taken a step towards availability for dialogue, communication and negotiation by regulating a mediation procedure between tax authorities and taxpayers. The not so good news is that there is no role provided for a mediator in this procedure called mediation, that in fact is negotiation. Once…

Romanian mediators are called on the 2nd and the 3rd of March 2019 to vote for the election of the members of the Romanian Mediation Council. Nine members and three alternates of the Mediation Council 2019-2023 will be elected for a four-year term by 4821 mediators that are authorized for practice in Romania. At the…

For dispute resolution practitioners familiar with the concept of the seat of arbitration, it may come as a surprise that the new UN Convention on International Settlement Agreement Resulting from Mediation does not include provisions in relation to the ‘seat’ of mediation. Why, you may ask? The Convention includes no provisions on ‘seat’ simply because…

January is the time of the year when we all reflect on the past experiences and set goals for the unfolding new year. From a mediation perspective, 2018 marked major positive developments in Turkey. Turkish mediation practice is developing quickly through the implementation of mandatory mediation. Rafal Morek mentions in his blog post how mandatory…

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 1999, I had just returned to Brazil from the United States with a Ph.D. thesis on ADR when a mediator colleague invited me to attend and appraise a mediation session. I was eager to do that and observed, minute by minute, the rich communication interaction between him and the parties. At the end my…

While The Kluwer Mediation Blog is aimed at an international audience and often deals with issues of transcendent import to those interested in the mediation process (like Bill Marsh’s recent inspiring post on Leadership) I can’t help but comment on recent Ontario decision that will be of interest to the mediation community here, and perhaps…

There are many well-known arguments for and against mandatory mediation. Neither of the two camps of its proponents and opponents appear willing to surrender. However, some recent developments signal that the proponents are now gaining the upper hand. While in the past mandatory mediation schemes were typical for some (but not all) of the common-law…

It was only on the 31st of May when I published a blog on the new Greek mediation law. Just a few months later a part II, or rather a sequel, seems necessary. As discussed in my first blog on the matter, compulsory mediation was recently enacted in Greece by the new mediation law in…