The bill on mediation proposed by the Ministry of Justice for approval is welcome. It meets the international and European standards, but must be essentially improved so that it is efficient. Such a conclusion was reached by experts of the Center for the Analysis and Prevention of Corruption (CAPC). According to them, the bill contains conceptual and technical-legislative shortcomings and lacunose and unclear provisions.
In a news conference at IPN, CAPC expert Viorel Parvan said the bill aims to promote a new improved and strengthened conception of mediation whose implementation will lead to the stimulation of this alternative method of settling disagreements or arguments. The bill will have a positive effect on the population. It provides for the creation of the Mediation Council that will consist of nine members.
Under the bill, the Council’s meetings will be deliberative if at least six members are present. In practice, it may happen that a decision will be taken by the votes of only four members of the nine. “We think the text should be reviewed so as to stipulate that the Council’s decisions can be adopted by a qualified majority of votes, which is five of nine, or by a different majority in case of more important decisions,” said the expert.
The bill provides that the Council is headed by a president designated by the Ministry of Justice from among its members for a four-year period only. The president can be discharged by order of the Ministry of Justice, at the suggestion of at least six members. “This is interference in the activity of the Medication Council that is an independent body and should elect its president from among its members who later can be confirmed by the Ministry’s order,” stated Viorel Parvan.
The bill also says that mediation is an obligatory stage before a trial, if the sides concluded a mediation convention. But the Council of Europe recommends that mediation should be optional, not mandatory.
According to the expert, the adoption of this bill requires amendments to a number of normative documents.
The appraisal was carried out within the project “Harmonization of the legislation with the international human rights standards” that is supported financially by the Civil Rights Defenders of Sweden.
