Mediation in Ukraine

Nataliya V. Koloskova

A conference devoted to the practice of application of world mediation trends in Ukraine took place on 22 December 2009 in Kiev. Mediation is one of the ways of alternative dispute settlement that supposes participation of a neutral party, a mediator. In the pro-

cess of mediation the parties arrive at a mutual decision and the mediator does not adjudge into this process. The main reason why mediation is attracting more and more attention is that conflicting parties control the decision process. “Mediation is constructed to a dialogue, when each party is provided by the space for self-expression”, said Tsysana Shamlikashvili, the president of Russian scientific methodological Centre of Mediation and Law. Among the main advantages of mediation, named by contributors were the releasing of courts from a large quantity of cases, a reduction in the time for dispute settlement and relative reduction of charges, privacy, right to choose a mediator, mediator’s disaffection, the doctrine of equality of parties and possibility to retain personal and business relationships.

One of the first states where mediation began to develop was the USA. The main reason for this was the dissatisfaction of the system in place. Great Britain followed the experience of the USA for the same reason. The process of development of mediation has been continuing in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Latin America for more than 20 years now. Recently mediation has become more popular in Russia, where it has received government support.

In the 1980s the Family and Life Service acted as a mediator, where a judge proposed to receive consultation with regard to preserving a family before adjudgement. That was the first experience of some kind of mediation in Ukraine. Then, in the nineties mediation was present in Donetsk Region for coal and industry trade unions. At present there is a joint program of Council of Europe and European Commission functioning in Ukraine. On the basis of experience of countries like Slovenia, Netherlands and Germany a program was developed for Ukraine. Within the auspices of that program pilot projects were implemented in several courts. In one such pilot project, involving the Kiev Economic Court, implementation of the mediation process is stayed by the final stage, Vasiliy Saranyuk reported.

The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, with the exception of implementation of pilot projects, works on adoption of the legislative base. The Draft Act of Ukraine On Mediation was deve-

loped; the latter stated the basic principles of actualization of mediation, taxation of the income of mediators and others were covered.

The contributors and guests of the conference in unison defined the conditions under which the successful integration of mediation in Ukrainian society would take place. They are as follows: formation of a legal base, involvement in the process of society on the basis of law, training the staff of mediators and forming an appropriate view about mediation in society. In this context some universities are already holding courses on mediation. Mediators can be from different professions but in the first instance they are lawyers and former judges.

“The investigation of civil, commercial and criminal cases in Ukraine provides prospects for mediation. An amicable agreement drawn up on mediation is challenging for checking; if it does not impede the rights of others, it is possible for a court to ratify the agreement”, Viktor Moskalenko, a deputy head of the Supreme Economic Court of Ukraine, suggests.

It is very important for business to know more about alternative dispute resolution because at present mediation is a service, socio-cultural fact and reaction to change in Ukrainian society.