Care providers establish often long term relationships with their clients. It is of paramount importance that the threshold for a complaint or dispute resolution is preferably low. Ideally this is not a ‘mini-trial’ in which care provider and client are opposed against each other, but a constructive dialogue at a round table guided by a skillful complaints officer. This is what has been introduced by the Healthcare Quality, Complaints and Disputes Act (the Wkkgz).
The new complaint system introduced with the Wkkgz applies to care covered by the Chronic Care Act (WLZ), the Healthcare Insurance Act (ZVW) and optionally can also apply to care based on the Social Support Act (WMO 2015).
In my opinion it is a missed opportunity that the legislator has not introduced a similar complaint procedure in the Youth Act, but instead has chosen the ‘mini-trial’ option here. Moreover, it is also confusing for care providers and clients to follow different complaints systems next to each other.
Finally, in psychiatric care where decisions of care providers can interfere with the right to self-determination there is a separate complaint procedure with a role for the Family Court. For all other run-of-the mill issues also in the psychiatric care the Wkkgz complaint procedure applies.

Since 2004 all students in Flemish universities and university colleges have the right to file an internal appeal within their institution against a negative study progress decision. This contribution gives an overview on what the current legal framework of such an internal appeals procedure looks like and aims to discuss some focal points (the composition of the committee, the hearing of a student, formal aspects when filing the appeal, …) when developing such a procedure.

In their article Mirjam Beyers and Suzan Langenberg discuss the possibilities of family group conferencing in case of divorce. They start their article with an introduction to the phenomenon of family group conferencing.

The cost of conflicts in the Netherlands between civil parties or individuals and the government add up to more than 12 billion Euro. For this calculation, a framework has been developed to distinct between three cost categories: Subject (parties) cost, System cost (e.g. court) and Consequential cost. The latter category represents more than 50% of the total cost, the majority of which are born by commercial parties and employer. The government bears 12,5% of the total cost. The impact on insurance companies could not be estimated but is suspected to be substantial. It are these three parties who in concert should fund further investigation and develop initiatives to reduce the financial and human cost of conflicts. It is to be investigated which incentives are required to make this game change to take place.

Belgium was one of the first European Member States to implement the new 2013 ADR directive. The act of 4 April 2014 introduces new rules on internal complaints procedures and a series of minimum quality requirements for ADR entities. However, the most important realization of the Act is the creation of a Consumer Ombudsman Service. This service, that is composed of six existing (public and private) Ombudsman services, will be competent for residual consumer disputes: disputes for which no ADR entity currently exists. This article explores the act of 4 April 2014 and offers a detailed overview of the structure, missions and procedure of the Consumer Ombudsman Service.

Research has been conducted by Leiden Law School into the efficacy of an instrument based on insolvency practice, ‘Harvard negotiation’ and ‘serious gaming’ aiming at better conflict management in case of (near) bankruptcy. Business rescue workout simulation games were played at different places worldwide. Serious gaming provides insight in the complexity and dynamics of (informal) reorganizations. The research further confirms that the Harvard negotiation-principles and the INSOL International Statement of Principles for a Global approach to multi-creditor workouts may provide a useful contribution to the realization of a successful (international) financial restructuring. The intervention of skilled neutrals is often significative. More focus on communication, negotiation and cooperative dispute resolution is also consistent with the initiatives of legislators and policymakers which stimulate companies to restructure at an early stage of financial distress. These developments also make ADR-skills become of more relevance to (insolvency) professionals.

Wendy Hensen analyzes the current Belgian legislation on tax mediation from the perspective of the traditional mediation doctrine. This legislation is in no way connected to the general set of rules on mediation incorporated into the Judicial Code. The question arises whether an internal comparative study between the two separate schemes can shed more light on potential bottlenecks in the current regulation. A comparison reveals significant differences in regard to the importance attributed to certain key elements of mediation, namely the principles of voluntary participation, confidentiality, party self-determination as well as the involvement of an independent and impartial third party who uses mediation methods and techniques. The customary interpretation and understanding of the concept ‘mediation’ apparently doesn’t apply to tax mediation. A brief overview of the Dutch mediation practice in fiscal affairs shows that a more holistic approach, in respect of the aforementioned principles, is nonetheless possible.

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.

In their contribution ‘Employment and ICMS’, Rob Jagtenberg and Annie de Roo discuss the yields that an integrated conflict management system may bring to individual workers, to the company or organisation, and to society as a whole. Few organisations have adopted ICMS as yet. Therefore, the authors analyse the resistance against introduction of ICMS in some detail, especially resistance on the part of management, which likely will be decisive.Recent developments in the world economy and in politics however, may change the leverage in favour of introducing ICMS still, in the years to come.