The European Parliament recently adopted a
Directive on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters. The
purpose of the Directive is to facilitate access to dispute resolution and to
promote the amicable settlement of disputes by encouraging the use of mediation
and by ensuring a sound relationship between mediation and judicial
proceedings.
The Directive addresses a number of important
aspects, such as training, quality, judicial encouragement of the use of
mediation, the confidentiality of the process, the enforcement of agreements
resulting from mediation and the effect of mediation on limitation and
prescription periods.
The
Directive applies to cross-border disputes, although it may well encourage
Member States to apply the provisions of the Directive to internal mediation processes.
Click here
to read the key components of the Directive and here to
read more about the Directive.