Based on an actual mediation the article makes it clear that a mediator should remain in its own professional role and stay away from the legal aspects of the solution. The mediator should leave this to other professional experts.The case describes a seemingly simple mediation-referral from the Court, but concealing a multitude of interrelated business and private conflicts, all with legal and emotional aspects. A judgment by the Court on just one of the issues would never end the real conflicts between parties. A facilitating mediation approach brings an unexpectedly large number of these emotional and legal issues into the open, all solved in some twenty mediation sessions.

In this article Huub Sprangers describes the development of the Dutch Mediatorsfederation, which started its activities at the end of 2013. Several pre-existing Dutch mediation organisations cooperate in this new federation.

Mediation is not very popular (yet) in the Dutch private sector. The author used his own network of business relations to investigate the motives not to choose mediation in solving business conflicts. Entrepreneurs and managers recognize mediation as a suitable method to solve personal conflicts like in family and community mediation. In business conflicts however, parties try not to get too personally involved and to keep feelings and emotions away from the negotiations. This investigation made clear that the timing of the conflict management process is a crucial factor in the unpopularity of mediation. The moment to choose a suitable method for dispute resolution is when the entrepreneur or manager failed to solve the dispute together with the other party. At this stage the competences of the mediator are competing with those of the entrepreneur/manager and therefore the choice for mediation is not very likely. This can only be changed by the introduction of dispute consultancy earlier in the process. Also the promotion of the traditional values and benefits of mediation does not seem to match the desires of most of the entrepreneurs and managers. Mediators might invest in pilots with companies to create opportunities for conflict consultancy and the introduction of a dispute analysis as early as possible in the process.

In this article the authors describe aspects of mediation in individual labour conflicts. In doing so, they use jurisprudence, judgements of the disciplinary commission for mediators en their own experiences as mediators. They end with the conclusion that mediation in labour conflicts needs specific knowledge, additional to the general training for mediation.

In 2005 the Mediation Act came into force in Belgium. This act makes it possible starting a procedural and legal mediation procedure, besides the usual legal measures. This article starts with a short introduction to the legal measures and continues with some notable results of an inquiry to the social mediation field by B-Mediation in cooperation with the Federal Mediation Commission. The results of the inquiry are collected in the report Barometer van de bemiddeling 2012. The authors end with confronting the results with their own experiences and an explanation of their own model for practice, and the description of a recent case.

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) are on the rise in Europe and different Member States. In May 2013, the European Parliament and Council adopted an ADR Directive (n 2013/11) and ODR Regulation (n 524/2013) that will bring major changes in the European and national ADR landscapes. Both instruments are analyzed in this article. On the other hand, attention is also paid to the Belgian ODR-platform Belmed, that was created in 2011 and facilitates Belgian consumers to make an online ADR application. Finally, a plea is made for the exchange of data between ODR-platforms and national regulators, as a means to detect mass cases.

Employee resistance to change is a key factor to turnaround failure. Interim managers who support companies in financial distress, mediate between employees, management, shareholders, bank, and other stakeholders in order to solve organisational conflicts. This article explores the internal social dynamic aspects of a turnaround. It develops a theoretical framework on the role of trust, emotion and communication, and its affect on reducing internal resistance, and describes the outcomes of an exploratory research study. Findings confirm that employee motivation to make a reorganisation a success significantly impacts upon turnaround success. Resistance can be reduced by an open communication climate, offering a new perspective, attention to emotions, managing by walking around, and ‘practicing what you preach’. More research is necessary to generalize the findings and to better understand success and failure factors.

Before starting as a community-mediator the mediator has to follow a training. In this training he learns how to act as a mediator when there is a dispute between neighbours. Important is to realize that in most of the neighbour quarrels not the conflict itself is the central problem. Mostly the problem is people do not feel heard, seen and recognized in their problems. In the training the mediator learns how to give attention to that real problem. In a mediation he has to be aware of his role as a mediator and of the professional attitude he must have. Besides that, the mediator must help the parties coming to be aware of their own behaviour.
Finally, community-mediator is not just a volunteer job. The mediator has to pay much attention to his way of communicating and should feel well in the entire process, such as making arrangements, conducting interviews with the parties, the conciliation conversation and aftercare.

On 26 May 2013 Ard van der Steur, Netherlands MP for the liberal democrats, introduced a cluster of three mediation bills to secure the status of mediation as a sound alternative to traditional in-court adjudication in civil and administrative disputes. Although the starting point in these bills is that mediation should take place on a voluntary basis, there are some arrangements that may result in quasi compulsory mediation. One such arrangement is that the judge, on his own motion, may refer parties to mediation. Also parties have to proof that they first have attempted to settle their dispute through mediation and if not, why not.

On 1 January 2013 the new Mediation Rules of CEPANI (the Belgian Center for Arbitration and Mediation) entered into force. The 2013 CEPANI Mediation Rules replace the 2005 version of the CEPANI Mediation Rules and also the 2010 version of the CEPANI ICT (Information and Communication Technology) Mediation Rules. The 2013 Rules contain provisions on the introduction of the mediation, the appointment of the mediator, the mediation protocol to be established at the beginning of the mediation process, the conduct of the mediation, the confidentiality, the end of the mediation and its costs. The authors comment on these various provisions of the CEPANI Mediation Rules and explain thereby also the relevant provisions of the Belgian Mediation Law contained in Chapter VII of the Belgian Judicial Code.

In February 2013 a Dutch delegation of four students and two coaches travelled to Paris to participate in the annual International Commercial Mediation Competition.

In this empirical-legal study, the mediation arrangements concluded in the context of a divorce by mutual consent are studied by using the social scientific method of content analysis. Within a representative sample of Flemish divorce agreements, these clauses are both quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed. The quantitative results show that the number of mediation arrangements and ADR clauses in the dataset are rather low. The qualitative content analysis reveals that most mediation provisions can be improved. Ultimately, this contribution contains suggestions to improve the terminology and stipulation of the investigated clauses.

In the article the author discusses the market requirements for mediation in the Netherlands. This includes potential for growth and possible annual financial turnover. The article also explores the dynamics of the market and highlights common problems presented by clients, and also whether trends exist and whether mediators are biased in certain areas.
Clients require practical solutions to their particular problem areas. They are less interested in the abstract theories of mediation techniques. The market requirement will therefore differ and depend on those specific problem areas. Mediation will survive only if it provides mediators a realistic income.

A specialist needs an instrument to be effective. For a doctor it is his stethoscope, for a lawyer it is the law books, for a psychologist it is the psychological tests and for a mediator it is the mediation matrix. This article explains how to operate the mediation matrix, that is based upon the Transactional Analysis theory and cybernetics. It can be used as a route planner that helps the mediator to explain to his client what he is doing, how he does that and why he does that. This will reduce the client’s stress, improve his logical thinking and self management.
The mediation matrix is an instrument to improve structure and transparency. In this way the mediator can support the expression of blocking emotions. By doing this, the mediator can support the positive emotions which will follow. The mediator is no longer a person with a bag of technics, but a professional with an integrated theory and useful technique.

This article examines the practice of foreclosure mediation in the American mortgage market after the financial crisis of 2008. Many states have implemented foreclosure mediation programs to handle the deluge of foreclosure proceedings in the aftermath of the financial crisis. The role of the mortgage servicing industry in the success or failure of this type of mediation is discussed, as well as the possible outcomes of a foreclosure mediation.

This article contains a sketch of the use and organisation of arbitration in the Dutch construction industry. In Holland contractual issues in construction contracts are dealt with by arbitration in the vast majority of issues. There are several arbitration institutes of which the Arbitration Board for the Building Industry is the most important. This institute published (anonymously) over a 1000 judgments in 2011. The main issues of the Dutch arbitration act and of the new act are discussed in this article. The following important new developments are being described: the arbitration clause in general conditions in contracts with a consumer (the effectiveness of these clause will be severely limited in the new act); getting an arbitrational award annulled by the state judge (very difficult as it is) is limited since this will only be asked for in front of the appeal court and not (like the present situation) first in the district court and than in the appeal court; judgments do not have to contain a motivation any more if parties say they can do without (a dangerous development).

Since 2001 Family Group Conferences are being organised in the Netherlands, and in Flanders since 2006. The Eigen Kracht Centrale, the Dutch forum organising Family Group Conferences, supported in 2011 research into the economic potential of Family Group Conferences, particularly in multi problem families. The results of the research are promising, meaning that Family Group Conferences may contribute to savings of costs for youth care.

Hierarchical (labor) conflicts have a unique dynamic. Although power dynamics play a role in many interactions, they may play a crucial role in labor conflicts affecting the conflict itself and the subsequent mediation. In this paper, we look at the concept of power as well as different power sources in order to get more grip on the power balance between disputants. We show that when parties hold and/or perceive different power positions, parties differ strongly with regard to their perception of the conflict, their emotional experience but also their (conflict) behavior. For example, where a labor conflict may represent a very personal and painful event for the less powerful, it may be just one of the many tasks the more powerful has to deal with. Consequently, parties have different needs and expectations in order to solve the conflict. Knowledge of these processes is essential if one wishes to acquire insight in the power balance between disputants and/or intervene in labor conflicts.

From an international point of view the double hybrid nature of ‘med-arb’ – imagined as a ‘guarantee’ for a ‘prompt’ resolution of business disputes – is out on a limb. The contractually planned transition from a failed mediation towards the ascertainment of procedural fairness in the subsequent arbitration under the guidance of the same Neutral poses indeed delicate questions.Not more than two – by the way federally ruled – countries – the USA and Australia – have endeavored – in some of their States – to tackle the problems related to confidentiality which determine the viability of ‘med-arb’ (beside the basic behavioral problem of negotiating with the assistance of a Neutral who unexpectedly may become your arbitrator). The validity of the – domestic – solutions devised in the USA and Australia is subject to caution in the light of the 1958 New York Convention on the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards.