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.

In this article Bie Vanseveren and Inge Vanfraechem outline and discuss the practice of a Hergo with juveniles in Belgium.

This research aims to explore empirically (method: questionnaire) the usefulness of mediation as a technique of external conflict management in the event of a family business transfer. More specifically, the research intents to verify if the conditions of application, the consequences and the benefits of mediation as described in general literature apply to the context of a family business (transfer), since Prince underlined 25 years ago that research is required to develop: ‘a system of intervention that employs the concepts, techniques, and logic of mediation that apply to the unique aspects of family business’. Results of the own research showed that mediation was an adequate technique of external conflict management in the context of a family business transfer and that it was more successful than consulting, defined as other techniques of external conflict management, in the researched cases. Furthermore, the research found indications that mediation is an adequate technique beyond the researched cases.

In this article Herman Verbist analyses the new ICC-rules of 1 January 2014. He gives a historical overview of the ICC mediation rules and reflects on the comtemporary rules based on modern mediation practices. Also he gives clear tools for mediation procedures.

Inclusive mediation involves a mediator whose neutrality is based on involvement with both sides of the dispute, and whose normative references are implicit; he or she is an insider. Exclusive mediation, on the other hand, involves a third party whose neutrality derives from his knowing neither disputant, and whose references to norms are explicit; an outsider, so to speak. The concepts of inclusive and exclusive mediation have been introduced by the anthropologist Carol Greenhouse in the 1980s. Inclusive mediation heavily relies on local knowledge and local ties, and its orientation can be labelled as horizontal. Basically, it fits small-scale societies, while exclusive mediation is more common in Europe and the United States. This article is about dispute settlement in an indigenous community in the Ecuadorian highlands, were I have encountered a unusual mixture of both forms: a local teniente político who applies inclusive as well as exclusive aspects of mediation at the same time.

This article investigates the functioning of the Dutch National Contact Point (NCP) during the specific instance procedure based on shared experiences of parties involved in a specific instance procedure, the stipulations of the OECD’s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the Dutch Government Decree 2014. NCPs function as a unique implementation mechanism of these guidelines by providing mediation and conciliation services during specific instance procedures. The recent debate in the Netherlands on the functioning of the Dutch NCP and the lack of rigorous up-to-date research necessitate further research on this topic. Hence, this article shares more in-depth knowledge about the functioning of the Dutch NCP, contributes to the ongoing debate in Parliament and in the OECD on the functioning of NCPs, and presents suggestions for further improvement.

Deepening democracy could be a way to meet contemporary and future challenges of society. In such a way there is place for engagement and wisdom of civilians, accomplished by mediated discussion.

The Dutch administrative procedure needs to become more informal and socially effective. This has to be accomplished by implementing the projects ‘In pleasant contact with the authorities’ (Prettig contact met de overheid) aimed at government institutions and a ‘New case procedure’ (Nieuwe zaaksbehandeling) aimed at the administrative courts. Both projects expressly provide more space to deal with a case from more than just a legal perspective. As of yet, the review committee does not make use of a standard procedure. It has been criticised in literature for limiting its assessment of a case to aspects of lawfulness, rather than embracing notions of justice and fairness in its procedure. In this article the author discusses the application by the review committee of guidelines derived from the aforementioned projects in order to make the hearing during the objections proceedings more informal and socially effective.

In a sequal to his earlier contribution in TMD 2014 (18) 2, p. 63, the author describes in more detail the ins and outs of the statute of 30 July 2013 on family and juvenile courts. With this new statute Belgian family and juvenile law are modernized. Also, the new statute started an autonomous development in family procedure, apart from the general civil procedure rules: most of the family conflicts can be solved in a shortened procedure and the possibility of mediation is introduced.

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.

The Netherlands has a long history of alternative dispute resolution in the area of education. Recently, empirical research by ‘Onderwijsgeschillen’, the largest organization for dispute resolution in this field, has lead to the successful introduction of mediation in certain types of alternative conflict resolution. In this article, Hilde Mertens, managing director of Onderwijsgeschillen, describes this research, the practical implementation of its findings, and the positive impact of mediation in conflict resolution in education.

The author discusses the details of the new Belgian statute on class actions. An intriguing part of the new legislation is that friendly negotiations between the disputing parties are strongly encouraged, yet the intervention of a professional mediator is wholly absent from the law. This is surprising, as the author emphasizes, in view of the procedural safeguards that mediation entails, safeguards that could also be of use in mass litigation.