Abstract:

Civil justice has been in crisis in some countries for a long time. Justice is not accessible to everyone because of rising costs and overcrowded courts. This judicial congestion led to claims that equal access to justice had been denied. Ensuring better access to justice is one of the cornerstones of initiatives, at the European Union level, which aim to increase co-operation between Member States in the field of Civil Justice. This principle is deemed to include the promotion of access to adequate dispute resolution measures as well as access to the judicial system. The availability of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes at European level has got a paramount importance to improve general access to justice and resolve the problems inherent in cross-border litigation. Indeed the use of ADR in the legal system is not new for lawyers. Many of the ADR methods in current use have existed for hundred years in various legal systems. Most common forms of ADR are negotiation, mediation, and arbitration. ADR methods, however, did not become widespread until 1970’s. ADR has spread successfully throughout the Anglo-Saxon countries in these years. The use of ADR has developed rapidly in order to relieve court congestion and undue costs and delay, to facilitate access to justice, and to provide more effective dispute resolution. Also the European Union has been very active in adopting legislative measures on ADR. Some of the Member States have been considering changes in their rules of civil procedure for quite a while. However the Member States do not have detailed framework regulations on ADR processes. In this context a Green Paper on ADR in civil and commercial law presented by the European Commission in 2002 and a voluntary European Code of Conduct for Mediators was launched in 2004. Then the Commission prepared the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the council on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters. The objective of the draft EU Mediation Directive is to promote ADR processes by encouraging the use of mediation and to establish minimum common principles on procedural rules such as suspension of limitation periods, confidentiality, and enforcement of settlement agreements, in each Member States. The draft EU Mediation Directive covers both domestic and “cross-border” mediations and set EUlevel standards across the board. Family mediation is also within the scope of the draft Directive. It has been waiting that the draft Mediation Directive will be adopted by the European Parliament in 2007

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