UNCITRAL'S COMMITMENT TO PROMOTE MEDIATION

Faton SHABANI

Abstract

Mediation, as a completely voluntary and confidential form of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), has today taken an important place in the resolution of disputes around the globe. It provides a neutral and confidential environment in which the parties can openly discuss their views on the underlying dispute. Enhanced communication can lead to resolution that will be satisfactory and acceptable to the parties involved. Mediation usually occurs early in the dispute, and much mediation is completed in one or two meetings. The parties having an equal say in the process and they, not the mediator, decide on the terms of the settlement and the eventual settlement. Therefore, there is no determination of guilt or innocence in the process. The parties may agree to use a set of mediation rules. Such rules usually determine the procedural framework of the mediation. Decades of work by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) has resulted in UNCITRAL providing states, mediation practitioners, parties to a dispute and mediators with a set of legal documents applicable to the mediation process. The analysis, synthesis, normativism and empiricism used in this paper provides an overview of UNCITRAL's commitment to the adoption of legal rules and the importance that these rules have in implementation, in the form of the convention, model law, rules, explanatory notes and recommendations. The results of the research provide evidence that this commitment is ongoing in order to respond to the changes and innovations that characterize today's disputes.

Pages: 21 - 28