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In the Netherlands victim-offender mediation is scarcely organized. However, the Dutch criminal procedure does offer possibilities for the implementation of mediation. In this article four modalities are discussed. At the stage of police investigation the police can refer parties to a mediation service. At the stage of the prosecution the public prosecutor can offer mediation as a condition for dismissal. When the case has been laid before a Court, the parties can involve in mediation after the proceedings have been stayed. The result of the mediation can then be taken into account by the Judge in the penal decision. When it comes to the more serious offences there should be possibilities for mediation at the stage of the penal execution. However, because of the contrasts between the principles of mediation and the criminal procedure, all of the modalities will have to find a balance between these principles.

In family law practice we are dealing increasingly with international aspects of broken relationships. Once children are involved, severe questions of habitual residence occur when one of the parties decides to return to his or her land of origin.Over the past years the 1980 Hague Abduction Convention has been criticised in the Netherlands, mostly because of the duration of such proceedings.In the Netherlands a change in legislation is now almost a fact, introducing a set of measures one of which is offering parents a Cross Border Mediation.This summer, The Hague Conference will come off with a ‘Guide of good practice’, to introduce Cross Border Mediation in international child abduction cases. The Netherlands stand out in having a Cross Borer Mediation system already integrated into their legal practice, soon to be legal system. So far the results have been evaluated positively in such a way that Cross Border Mediation should be considered as a useful tool in preventing abduction cases as well as in regular relocation cases.

A novel approach to mediation is applied in a conflict between an IT-vendor and its customer. In a series of mediation sessions a computer-based Mindmap, displayed on a large screen, is developed as the model that contains the shared understanding between parties of their conflict. The Mindmap is constructed ‘life’, as the mediator facilitates the conversation between parties. It structures surface level symptoms, issues, root causes, and finally builds a set of solutions. This approach to mediation brings at least three main benefits: (1) it promotes shared unambiguous understanding of the conflict, because the parties build one shared model containing their views, (2) it promotes a balance of power, because it works counter to certain negotiation tricks, such as truth by repetition, riding hobby horses, power play, insults, et cetera, and (3) it depersonalises the conflict, as the conflict is encapsulated in the model. Computer mindmapping also provides a self-documenting process.

In this article the focus is on conflicts in the legal protection of incapable adults. First a short explanation is given of protection measurements in Dutch family law. Second is discussed in which cases judges appoint or should appoint professional guardians instead of a member of the family of the incapable adult. The central issue in this article is the role of the guardian as an ‘arbiter’ in conflicts. According to his task he cannot be independent, because his primary task is to care for the interests of the incapable person. This may bring him in conflict with other parties involved. Particularly the fact that the guardian himself can be a party in a conflict makes his position and role special. Therefore, some methods of possible strategic interaction from the perspective of the guardian are discussed.

The Legal Service Counter is an independent foundation providing free legal information and advice to Dutch citizens. When a client approaches the Legal Service Counter about a conflict with another party, it will inform the client about mediation. If the client is interested in mediation, three important issues will be discussed: 1. What is the status of the conflict? Has it already escalated or are the parties still on speaking terms? 2. Is negotiation possible and is the client prepared to negotiate? 3. What are the interests of both parties? If, after discussing these issues, the client is still interested in solving his conflict through mediation, the Legal Service Counter will contact the other party to discuss the situation from his point of view. When both parties agree to mediation, the Legal Service Counter will assist them in selecting a mediator. However, the intervention of the Legal Service Office as such sometimes already may suffice to improve the communication between and the ability of parties to solve their problems themselves.

Research shows that many companies are unfamiliar with Effective Dispute Resolution (EDR) methods. Increasingly however managers wish to effectively solve disputes. This has resulted in the development of a simple tool for managers. Our conflict resolution chart is based on a literature study of factors proven to play a role in the choice for a particular dispute resolution method. The conflict resolution chart was refined based on the answers of ten managers to a questionnaire about the developed tool. The manager can use the chart as a first indicator of what course of actions with regard to the conflict he has to take.

December 2008 over 2.000 lawyers were asked by an online questionnaire about their view on referral to mediation. The referral provision to mediation is well-known amongst lawyers; over 90% of the lawyers are acquainted with it. A majority of these lawyers sees court referral to mediation as a valuable supplement in general within the traditional court procedure. Some of them, however, see it as a valuable supplement in certain kinds of cases.There appears to be a correlation between experience with and attitude towards mediation: a lawyer who has gained more experience with mediation, for example by attending one or more mediation sessions, has a more positive view and as a result in the future he will recommend mediation to his client more often.In family law cases, a lawyer’s advice to use mediation as a tool to solve a conflict, is more often accepted by a client, then it is in commercial cases. Lawyers would like to see some improvement in the timing of the mediation proposal by the court. Sometimes a proposal comes too early, sometimes it comes too late.The cooperation between lawyers and mediators is assessed positively by 90% of the lawyers. However, lawyers who do not attend one or more mediation sessions would like to receive more information about the progress. On the other hand, lawyers are satisfied about the information exchange with their clients during the mediation process.