The new Belgian law on collaborative conflict resolution installs a disqualification clause, which parties have to sign before starting the negotiations. If they cannot resolve their dispute, they agree to stop the negotiations in advance. What skills do the lawyers need to make collaborative conflict resolution a success?

In this article Emese von Bóné discusses the main findings of a Netherlands research (report) into the origin and functioning of the Belgian justice de paix and the French juge de proximité, the successor of the French justice de paix. The report also provides avenues how this type of adjudication could be implemented in the Dutch administration of justice.

In this article, the author discusses mediation law and practice in Australia, with a focus on commercial disputes. Statistical data collected in several Australian jurisdictions suggest that mandatory referral works out positively. The author concludes with some observations as to the potential usefulness of the Australian model for court-referred mediation in Europe.

The Austrian mediation landscape is quite inhomogeneous, with no universally applicable framework in place to safeguard best practice standards in mediation. Any commitment of mediators to codes of conduct or ethical guidelines occurs on an entirely voluntary basis. Control mechanisms exist in the form of complaint bodies instituted at the level of Austrian mediation associations.