With a Belgian law of June, 18 2018, the principle of the voluntary nature of mediation was affected. A lot of critical comments can be made at this point. The scope of the obligation is not clear. Mandatory mediation raises the threshold to the court and has as effect that many cases are not handled in the most appropriate way. The bar doesn’t support the measure. Research is needed to find out if the new measure is justified.

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.

CEPINA, the Belgian Centre for Arbitration and Mediation recently published special mediation rules for the resolution of IT disputes. The most important rules are discussed. Also the background of this initiative is highlighted.