Consultation Paper on Alternative Dispute Resolution - Law Reform ...

officer acts as adviser for all internal and external parties involved in mediation.
In addition, he or she plays an important role in monitoring the quality of
mediation. The mediation officer is therefore the liaison officer for the judge in
referring cases. The mediation officer also liaises with the mediators. The duties
of a mediation officer in referrals can be summarised as follows: providing
information to those concerned, submitting a list of mediators from which the
parties may choose, arranging the first appointment, monitoring the progress of
the mediation and ensuring that the financial and administrative aspects are
arranged.
3.51 In all Dutch courts judges have been provided with training to select
cases for referral to mediation. They learn how to investigate whether the
parties have a so-called success-predicting motivation that is likely to lead to an
effective and success-promising choice for mediation. 52
3.52 In 2005, a Dutch judge cited a 61% settlement rate for court-annexed
mediation. She stated that almost 1,000 cases had been referred to mediation,
of which 89% had completed the terms of the mediated settlement within three
months. She stated that a typical case required an average of 6.3 hours of
mediation. She also suggested that 50% of civil cases could be settled via
mediation, reducing case backlogs and increasing the settlement capacity of
judges. 53
(iv) Slovenia
3.53 In 2001, the District Court in Ljubljana, which is the biggest court in
the Republic of Slovenia, launched a pilot programme for the reduction of court
backlogs. The programme introduced court-annexed mediation in civil cases
and a Department for Alternative Dispute Resolution (DADR) was established.
In 2002, a mediation programme was established for family law cases and since
2003 a programme for commercial mediations is available. All the programmes
are voluntary and both parties must consent to mediation. The pilot
programmes have since become permanent features of the court system.
52 See Niemeijer Court- Based Mediation in the Netherlands Research, Evaluation,
and Future Expectations.<strong>Paper</strong> presented at the annual meeting of the Law and
Society Association, Chicago, Illinois, May 27, 2004 at 2. Available at
http://english.justitie.nl/images/Court%20Based%20Mediation%20in%20the%20N
etherlands-Pel%20and%20Niemeijer%E2%80%A6_tcm75-114368_tcm35-
17280.pdf.
53 Judge Reiling ADR in the Netherlands—Private and Court-Annexed Mediation
<strong>Paper</strong> presented on the conference organized by the Institute for the Study and
Development of Legal Systems (ISDLS, 2005). Available at
http://rru.worldbank.org/Documents/Toolkits/adr/adr_appendices.pdf.
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