International Mediation Developments – May 2014

This is another in a series of articles on international mediation developments by long-time Mediate.com News Editor, Keith Seat.

• The National Supplementary Health Agency in Brazil has expanded the scope of disputes that it mediates between consumers and healthcare carriers to address legal and technical matters in addition to disputes relating to medical care itself.  Mondaq (April 16, 2014)

• An international mediation service has been launched in Ireland by JAMS, the largest U.S. mediation service.  The Global Legal Post (April 10, 2014)
• A new mediation service has been established to address workplace disputes that arise within the church in Wales, with specially trained mediators in all six dioceses.  NewsWales (April 26, 2014)

• The tourism industry in France has established what it calls a mediation program for disputes between travelers and service providers, which handled over 1,000 cases in 2013, a large increase from its first year in 2012.  The chief mediator proposes solutions that the parties accept or reject and also issues rulings to resolve disputes.  The Local (March 21, 2014)

• Pakistan’s Karachi Centre for Dispute Resolution continues to work to get traction for mediation, proposing legislation to permit courts to order mandatory mediation.  The Express Tribune (March 12, 2014)

• Mediation has resolved a property dispute that began in 1966 and has been pending in court for 32 years in Nagpur, Maharashtra, India, where a day-long emphasis on mediation resolved 28 of the 39 cases mediated.  The Times of India (March 30, 2014)
• Nepal has adopted a Mediation Act to cover disputes not referred to mediation by courts, including land, property, family and even criminal cases apart from serious felonies.  The Act establishes a Mediation Council of high ranking officials to formulate policy, which will be headed by a supreme court justice.  eKantipur.com (April 16, 2014)

• The chief justice in the state of Selangor, Malaysia, is encouraging mediation at the court’s mediation center which settled 168 cases in the last year, while 234 went back to the court for trial; mediation is optional for litigants and conducted without charge by a judge in the role of mediator.  New Strait Times (February 28, 2014)

• About one in five of the 70,000 franchises in Australia has been in a substantial franchise dispute, with two-thirds of the disputes resolved through direct negotiations and another ten percent through mediation.  Franchising (April 14, 2014)

• The Taxation Office of Australia is increasingly using mediation to avoid litigation in the early stages of high risk tax disputes that involve large businesses or rich individuals.  The Australian (March 4, 2014) (Subscription Required)

• In Australia, the Catholic Church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council is encouraging families with sex abuse cases against the church to mediate rather than pursuing protracted litigation.  ABC.Net.Au (March 17, 2014)

• The Financial Dispute Resolution Centre in Hong Kong has received over 3,200 inquiries and mediated about 50 cases since being established in June 2012, with a settlement rate of about 80 percent.  About half of the inquiries relate to investment-related products.  Industry participants say the existence of the Centre, which costs about HK$55 million (US$7 million) a year to operate, makes banks and brokers take client complaints more seriously.  South China Morning Post (March 26, 2014)

                       

Keith Seat

Keith L. Seat is a full-time mediator and arbitrator who can effectively assist parties in resolving a wide range of telecommunications, antitrust and other commercial disputes. With over twenty years of legal experience as a mediator, arbitrator, litigator, advocate before executive branch agencies, and key staffer in the legislative and… MORE >