The Law No. 29/2013, which entered into force on 20 May 2013, lays down the general principles applicable to mediation in Portugal. There are many reasons to believe that mediation could develop faster than before on the Europe’s West Coast. Fans of fado (a distinctly Portuguese music genre, well known for its artistic refinement and…
Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC), a department of the UK Government responsible for the collection of taxes, published the results of its pilot ADR project evaluation. It has been testing a new way of resolving tax disputes, with the SMEs and individual taxpayers, since 2011. The way the scheme works is that an official…
The European Parliament has adopted two key legislative measures regarding ADR for consumer disputes. The first Resolution deals with the proposed Directive on alternative dispute resolution (amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 and Directive 2009/22/EC) and the second Resolution deals with the proposed Regulation on online dispute resolution (ODR). Both acts adopted on March 12, 2013,…
The concept of “ADR Pledge” has been known for at least last three decades. Most often it is a public statement in which those who sign it (corporations, law firms, governmental agencies etc.) declare to adopt a systemic approach to dispute resolution with more focus on mediation and ADR. In different forms ADR pledges have…
Mackerel has recently been taken off the ‘Fish to Eat’ list of the Marine Conservation Society (MCS). Due to overfishing, MCS has downgraded its rating of this popular oily fish. The society believes that international arguments about mackerel quotas mean it is no longer a sustainable choice. MCS advises that mackerel should now only be…
It is not often that one has the satisfaction of witnessing mediation attracting so much public attention as has been the case lately in Canada and the US. All this thanks to Mediator, Scot Beckenbaugh, credited for his ‘extraordinary contribution’ to resolve the NHL Lockout dispute. Some observers have already nominated Mr. Beckenbaugh for the…
Mediation in Europe has evolved, including developing into a mature subject of comparative legal studies. Just in October and November of this year, three voluminous books on mediation law and practice in the EU were published. Each counting over five hundred pages, they give an interesting insight into the current status of mediation in EU…
(Foreign) investor – (host) State disputes are for many reasons an intriguing and fast developing part of legal and dispute resolution practice. Since the late 1990s, the number of such disputes has increased sharply: In 1997, 19 known cases were brought against states. By 2007, there were over 250 known cases, and more than 450…
The Czech Republic joined the EU Member States that have put the necessary rules in place to transpose the Directive 2008/52/EC on mediation in civil and commercial matters. The new Mediation Act (Act No. 202/2012 Coll., “the Act”) became effective on 1 September 2012. Whereas the Directive’s implementation was significantly delayed (Article 12(1) required Member…
The Report on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on online dispute resolution for consumer disputes (Regulation on consumer ODR) (COM(2011)0794 – C7-0453/2011– 2011/0374(COD)) has been published by the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) of the European Parliament. IMCO has been working on two legislative proposals…
