Mediation is moving more and more into the focus of the public. One reason lies in the current legislative process. The roots of Method go back to the ancient Greeks.

Antiquity

Mediation will gain weight

Mediation will also increase in the future because many legal expenses insurance policies will include or include in your clauses a mediation procedure will be carried out with the neighbors before the feared apple tree controversy.

This means that a lower court – mediation – is brought before many civil proceedings. This is happening simply against the background of relieving the courts and, of course, in order to Costs to save (for the insurance companies).

What is mediation at all?

A wide variety of people meet in mediation Companys for an exchange of experiences about new conflict strategies and above all solution strategies. This round table is organized by the Institute for Conflict Management at the Faculty of Law of the EuropeanUniversity Scientifically accompanied Viadrina in Frankfurt an der Oder.

But what does it actually mean to initiate a mediation procedure? And what does this mean?

Even the ancient Greeks ...

Already the Greek Plato was concerned with the conflict solution. In Africa mediation procedures are detectable in the strains. This was vital because there was no jurisdiction.

And the People in Confucian China, used mediation to resolve disputes before a court trial. The Streit in court there is seen as a shame.

A mediator ends the Thirty Years War

A well-known mediator from the early modern period was Alvise Contarini. He became famous for his mediation activities during the Thirty Years' War.

This mediator, respected by all enemy camps, had to conduct more than a thousand verified conversations before his efforts Success were crowned and culminated in the Peace of Westphalia.

For their services the mediators were scolded and mocked

However, please do not think that gratitude has been shown to the mediator and is becoming partial. No, the mediators were scoffed at, suspected of cooperating with the enemy and the actual role of the mediator was not perceived at all.

What about Socrates, for example? Due to his questioning technique, he was not only considered a great philosopher, but also a mediator. This form of questioning, known as the “Socratic dialogue”, was a thorn in the side of the rulers of the time Eye.

7 basic principles of mediation

For mediation to succeed, 7 basic principles must be taken into account - for example, the voluntary nature of participation or the neutrality of the mediator. An overview:

1. Principle: No one may be compelled to participate

All parties participate voluntarily in the mediation process. That's nice to say, but what if, for example, the employer wants his Employees participate in a mediation process? To what extent does an employee then participate voluntarily in the process? In that case it should Executive Be present at least during the first session and articulate your hopes through the process.

Important in the procedure is that the highest-ranking participant first announces your interests, so that the framework for the employees and the mediators is easier manageable!

2. Principle: The process is carried out according to the results

What is meant by this?

There is no pre-defined one Objective.

The employer, for example, to come back from the first principle, can not now express his wishes as to how the mediation process ends. For example, a mediation process may be conducted between two parties to explore closer cooperation, and instead the parties will be totally disconnected after the trial.

Of course, that can also go in the other direction. Mediation for separation leads to a closer union. There is no right or wrong result, it can go in any direction.

3. Principle: The mediator is neutral and all-party

This is one of the core pieces of mediation. The mediator is absolutely neutral and has to be open to all parties, regardless of who pays his fee. Without this neutrality, the conflicting parties could not trust the mediator and the procedure.

Everyone feels "ripped off". This principle of neutrality has also been included in the Mediation Act. The mediator is prohibited from conducting proceedings on a matter in which he has previously worked for one of the parties.

This applies, for example, to tax consultants who carry out a mediation procedure with their clients. The principle can only be deviated if both or all conflict parties agree.

4. Principle: willingness to solve / personal responsibility

The Solution is not “announced” by the mediator. This is also an essential difference to a so-called arbitration. An arbitration procedure always ends with an arbitration award, which means that the various sides, the pros and cons, are weighed up and at the end a result is announced.

This is absolutely not the case here! The conflicting parties themselves must work out the solution. Even if no solution can be found - for a variety of reasons, the mediator will never interfere. No solution is one of many possible solutions.

5. Principle: The feedback

This principle is based on the fourth principle. The mediator will always check with the parties whether they agree with their conversation, whether you consider him neutral, or whether someone feels depressed.

6. Principle: Confidentiality

In order for the mediation process to be carried out successfully, the absolute confidentiality of the information must be ensured. The parties must absolutely for sure feel (and rightly so, of course) that no one learns anything outside of the room unless they both want it to.

7. Principle: information

The mediator must ensure that all parties have the same level of information. He will also press for everyone to have their agreements legally reviewed before signing.