NEWS

April 2008

SOLVIT is an on-line problem solving network in which EU Member States work together to solve without legal proceedings problems caused by the misapplication of Internal Market law by public authorities. There is a SOLVIT centre in every European Union Member State (as well as in Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein). SOLVIT Centres can help with handling complaints from both citizens and businesses. They are part of the national administration and are committed to providing real solutions to problems within ten weeks. Using SOLVIT is free of charge.

SOLVIT has been working since July 2002. The European Commission coordinates the network, which is operated by the Member States, the European Commission provides the database facilities and, when needed, helps to speed up the resolution of problems. The Commission also passes formal complaints it receives on to SOLVIT if there is a good chance that the problem can be solved without legal action. SOLVIT web page

 

 

February 2008

President of organization Mediators Beyond Borders which is located in Santa Monica, California Mr. Kenneth Cloke contacted PIC regarding collaboration between them and organizations working on Mediators without borders project. Please find enclosed article about their organization and a leaflet about conference which will be held in February 2008 in Boulder Colorado.

 

 

EU DIRECTIVE ON CERTAIN ASPECTS OF MEDIATION IN CIVIL AND COMMERCIAL MATTERS

We expect Council to reach consensus on November 9th on the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters. Based on the Council decision 2nd reading in the Eureopan Parliament should only be formality. You can find more infornation on Commission policy here and 1st version of Directive here (doc).

 

 

Dispute resolution accross borders - a new toolkit for practitioners

EU Civil Justice Day Conference "Dispute resolution accross borders - a new toolkit for practitioners" organised by The Law Society in London on Thursday 25th October 2007. >> pdf

 

 

2nd MWB NEWS

Dear friends, mediators, participants in the Mediators Without Borders (MWB) Project

My last update on the project implementation was in June and now it is time to share good news with you. Project web page www.cb-mediation.eu is now prepared. It is not finalised and will grow with the project. But it is enabling us to start the 2007 Cross Border Mediation (CBM) e-Training Program. >> more

 

 

2nd EUROPEAN MEDIATION CONFERENCE - SEPTEMBER 2007, VIENNA, AUSTRIA

The 2nd European Mediation Conference, Vienna 2007 (EMC I), has been designed not only as a unique opportunity for mediators and for organisations, public and private institutions as well as for individuals to particpate in a dialogue with mediators representing close to all European countries, but also as a starting point for the further formation of the EUROPEAN MEDIATION NETWORK INITIATIVE.

The proposed general theme of the Conference "Mediation goes Europe" aims to express the necessity of discussing and giving thought to the chances for establishing a generally applicable appearance of mediation, buttressed / supported in every country by European values and global ethics - despite the diversity, in itself desirable, in areas and methods of mediation." >> more

 

 

1st CBM MEDIATION DAYS - JUNE 2007, PORTOROŽ, SLOVENIA

Legal-Information Centre for NGOs Slovenia – PIC and Inmedio (Institute for Mediation, Consulting and Development) with the co-operation with the German Federal Association of Mediators, supported by the Slovene Mediators Association, organized a 3 day conference, which took place in Portorož, Slovenia from 14th to 16th June 2007. The conference was the part of the training program in project “Mediators without Borders”, whose main goal is to improve qualifications of legal practitioners in mediation techniques in CB cases, to enhance capacity of existing CB mediators and to increase the number of CBM experts.

The conference started on Thursday, 14th of June 2007 with presentations regarding international conflicts on EU and political level. Experts from various fields of politics and conflict treatment were giving personal statements regarding their work. Dr. Thomas Henschel, Director of European School of Governance and Dirk Splinter from Inmedio had a presentation with the title “Conflict Resolution on Intergovernmental Level and in Politics”. Aleš Zalar from District Court of Ljubljana later presented “Views on the Development of the Mediation”. In the afternoon Prof. Nadja Alexander from University of Brisbane presented “Cross Border Conflicts and Mediation”. The first day was concluded with the presentation “The Role of Mediation Organizations in the Development of the Mediation” by Dr. Wilfried Kerntke, the President of Bundesverband Mediation, mag. Marianus Mautner, the President of Austrian association of mediation, RA Christoph Paul, Board Speaker BAFM and Primož Šporar from PIC.

On the 15th of June, the participants of the “Mediation days” conference had several workshops led by experts from different countries. The intention of the workshops was not only to educate the mediators, who are about to start their practice, but also to “update” the very experienced colleagues. The participants could attend several workshops on different panels:

On Saturday, the 16th of June the participants were invited to take part in building the platforms on the national and international level. The Saturday events started with Open table regarding the “Mediation in the future in Slovenia”, where Gordana Ristin, President of Slovenian Mediation Association had her presentation titled “What Kind of Mediation we have and want in Slovenia”. This presentation was followed by “The Role of the State with the Regards to the Mediation” led by Primož Šporar, PIC. At the same time there was another Open table titled “Meeting of Mediators and their Organizations – Strengthening the Cooperation”. In the afternoon both Open tables concluded with the presentation by Mag. Tanja Metelko Lisec from Concordia Mediation Institute, “Do we need Standards for Trainings and Implementation of Mediation” and “How to Assure Identification of Mediation in Slovenia” presented by Rudi Tavčar. An interesting presentation titled “Preparation of a White Book about the Future of Mediation in Slovenia” was made by Gordana Ristin. The last day of the conference was concluded by another Open table – “Mediators without Borders”, moderated by Primož Šporar, PIC.

More information on www.mediacija.si.

Partners
With support from