The Legal Issues Committee discussed and approved the Draft Law on Mediation for the I reading, introduced by one of the initiators, the Chair of the Procedural Issues and Rules Committee, David Matikashvili.
The proposed legal amendments seek to address the identified shortcomings in the application of the existing law and enhance certain aspects. By doing so, the aim is to facilitate the growth and development of the mediation institution and the profession of mediators.
“The Law on Mediation was adopted in 2019 with the objective to, along with other mechanisms, encourage the jurisdictions through alternative means, however, certain shortcomings have been detected since 2019, and today, we strive to address the revealed challenges”, - Matikashvili elucidated.
The Draft entitles the General Meeting of the Association of Mediators to endorse the continued professional Development system, and empowers the Executive Council of the Association to develop and execute respective programs within the system.
Pursuant to the amendments, the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court shall acquire the mechanism for appeals on the imposition of disciplinary sanctions on the mediators.
“The Draft Law eliminates certain shortcomings pertaining to the enforcement of the mediation conciliation and the concept of the conciliation and its enforcement”, - the reporter added.
At that point, the Draft Civil Procedure Code stipulates that if the dispute in the mediation process is resolved by the conciliation of the parties at the trial, then the state fees shall be reduced to half. If the parties achieve conciliation before the trial, they shall be fully exempted from the fees. The list of actions requiring special reference in the document certifying the authority of the representation to the Court (the power of attorney by the mandator) shall be supplemented by the representation to the mediation.
“The newly introduced initiative will enhance and promote the mediation institution, serving as yet another instrument for the enforcement of justice through contemporary standards and novel instruments. On the one hand, it facilitates the discharge of the court’s agenda, and on the other hand, it enables citizens to resolve their disputes through alternative means,” - the Chair of the Legal Committee, Archil Gorduladze, noted.
