Implementing a restorative policy is a difficult job for schools. In schools based on sanctions teachers need to know the rules, but in schools based on restorative justice everyone, especially students, understands the rules and believes in them. The relation has priority. Such a school needs a vision on the restorative method for parents, teachers and students to solve unacceptable behaviour and conflicts. It focuses on self-discipline instead of discipline.

Schools are tasked with helping children to become socially competent(er), both in the on- and offline world. If conflicts occur, schools find out how they can tackle this behaviour and prevent it in the future. Schools cover various tracks here. More and more schools have understood that they can actively involve children and young people in their preventive and problem-solving approach. They integrate methodologies and programmes that give children and young people the opportunity to take responsibility when a conflict occurs. Some of these methods and programmes are looked at more closely in this article. The article concludes with a future-oriented dream that responds to some current educational needs.

In this article the authors describe briefly the legal aspects of liquidation of an estate and the alternative way of mediation. Besides that they investigate what should better be done before the estate will be liquidated. It turns out that also in that case the facilitation of mediation is a wise choice.

In 1976 the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, about corporate social responsibility and sustainability, were carried. To implement the guidelines national contact points inform people and enterprises, and mediate in case of a complaint. This article describes the structure, procedure and role of the Dutch and Belgian National Contact Points.

Luc Vanheeswijck summarizes the current position of tax mediation in Belgium and outlines the differences between the Belgian and Dutch mediation method in fiscal matters. He also outlines the differences between mediation in tax matters and ‘classic’ mediation. He concludes that Belgian tax mediation is not mediation as is commonly understood. The article closes on a description of the results of de ‘Fiscale Bemiddelingsdienst’ (the Fiscal Mediation Service).

Every mediator has to act independently and impartially. These are core values of mediation. However, what if a mediator tries to enrich himself? The aim of this contribution is to shed light on some correction mechanisms under the Belgian law of obligations, focusing on the latest developments in the case law of the Belgian Supreme Court.

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 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?

This article discusses the Belgian perspective on the Dutch ‘ZAM/ACB research on possibilities and impediments for commercial mediation’ which was undertaken by the Montaigne Centre of the University of Utrecht. In Belgium bMediation, the Federal Mediation Committee and the Ghent University periodically monitor the practice of mediation in Belgium with the instrument of the 'Bemiddelingsbarometer'. It turns out that parties and their advisers in both Belgium and the Netherlands still prefer a traditional judicial approach instead of mediation, mostly because of a lack of information.

The report ‘ZAM/ACB research on possibilities and impediments for commercial mediation’ of the Utrecht Montaigne Centre represents the most important results for the three target groups (lawyers, firms, and judges), with an accent on how users of commercial mediation in the Netherlands think about the potential of mediation.

The hospital sector is not only confronted with the challenges of technical and digital medicine (AI), but also with the expectations of increasingly more talkative patients and their relatives. Luc Van Bauwel introduces you to and testifies about the way in which the ombudsman service of an important hospital group in Antwerp evolved from mere complaint handling as an ombudsservice on the basis of principles of mediation to anchoring the ideas in the liars of management, doctors and other employees; he gives an overview of how the professional ombudsman organized his self and how the surrounding other stakeholders perceived this relatively new ‘ombudsman’ service, which was established by law; how patients have experienced this form of conflict management in the past 15 years, which has been monitored inside the care institution twice in the last 15 years; in the end, he testifies how the acquired/gained trust has grown, as a result of which he now participates on board level in an active role from the very beginning of developing and implementing changes, in the ever-present processes of change, in particular aimed at the doctors associated with the organization.

The Family Justice Centers are an international model where victims of domestic violence and child abuse can find all help needed under one roof. The FJCs are a collaboration of police, justice, welfare, help centers and authorities. The main target is empowering survivors of violence.
The development of the FJC-model is situated in an evolution of the approach of these forms of violence, starting with the recognition of violence against women and child abuse towards a multidisciplinary and collaborative model starting from the needs of survivors of violence. The FJC-model is explained from a field worker point of view and further developments and expected evolutions are mentioned.