The Law on Mediation – Comments on legislation
The activity of mediators is regulated by the Ministry of Justice. Mediators operate independently based on certificate issued by the Ministry of Justice. Information on mediators shall be entered in the Register of mediators, which is determined by the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Justice shall confirm the rules of mediator’s preparation. The registration and liquidation of organizations provided mediation services are also performed by the Ministry of Justice.
There is a requirement form the Ministry of Justice for a non – lawyer mediator to have not less than 140 hours of a training, for a lawyer – mediator – not less than 170 hours of training. The Ministry of Justice shall confirm the program of the training.
A person acquires the status of a mediator based on the decision of the Qualification Commission for the mediation of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus and the mediator is included in the State Register of mediators. The certificate is recognized mediator official document confirming the right of the person to carry out activities as a mediator. Inclusion in the Registry allows judicial mediation and extrajudicial mediation.
The Law on Mediation allows the use of mediation in civil matters, including business and other economic activities, as well as labor, housing, family and other disputes. Mediation cannot be used to resolve disputes arising from the public relations connected with protection of state and public interests.
The law establishes as a fundamental the following principles of mediation: voluntariness, fairness, equality and cooperation of the parties, impartiality and independence of the mediator, confidentiality. The law and procedural legislation based on the principle of voluntariness of the parties to use the mediation. The court has the right to recommend parties to engage in mediation.
The Law on Mediation listed confidentiality as one of the principles of mediation. It is if during the mediation the confidentiality of all information relating to mediation shall be preserved, unless the parties otherwise agree, except for the information on the conclusion of agreements on the use of mediation, on the termination of the mediation. If the mediator has received from one of the party information related to mediation, he may disclose such information to another party only with the consent of the party who gave the information.
The Law on Mediation provides that the parties, the mediator, as well as other persons involved in the mediation, are not entitled to rely on the information receive during the mediation, unless the parties agree otherwise, in the course of judicial or arbitral proceedings. The mediator may not disclose information relating to the mediation and which became known to him during its conduct, without written consent of the parties. The obvious advantage of the Law is possibility to use extra-judicial mediation, This means that the Belarusian citizens and legal entities have an alternative to court proceedings.
By adopting the Law, the state has expressed its positive attitude towards mediation by legalizing it as a way of resolving civil conflicts. After the Law came into force began the most difficult stage in the mediation development – the formation of a mediation practice.
