Editing Mediation (section)

==Uses==
[[File:Agent de médiation urbaine à Fort-de-France (Martinique).jpg|thumb|Urban mediators in [[Fort-de-France]], [[Martinique]]. 2007]]

In addition to dispute resolution, mediation can function as a means of dispute prevention, such as facilitating the process of contract negotiation. Governments can use mediation to inform and to seek input from stakeholders in formulation or fact-seeking aspects of policy-making.

Mediation is applicable to disputes in many areas:

{{Div col|colwidth=22em}}
; Family:
* [[Prenuptial]]/Premarital agreements
* Financial or budget disagreements
* Separation
* [[Divorce#Mediated divorce|Divorce]]
* [[Alimony]]
* Parenting plans (child custody and visitation)
* [[Eldercare]]
* Family [[business]]es
* Adult sibling conflicts
* Parent(s)/adult children
* Estates
* [[Medical ethics]] and end-of-life

; Workplace:
* [[Wrongful termination]]
* [[Workers' compensation]]
* [[Discrimination]]
* [[Harassment]]
* [[Grievance (labour)|Grievances]]
* [[Labor dispute|Labor management]]

; Commercial:
* Landlord/tenant
* Homeowners' associations
* Builders/contractors/realtors/homeowners
* [[Contract]]s
* [[Medical malpractice]]
* [[Personal injury]]
* [[Partnership]]s

; Public disputes:
* Environmental
* Land-use

; Other:
* School conflicts
* Violence-prevention
* [[Restorative Justice|Victim-Offender mediation]]
* [[Non-profit]] organizations
* Faith communities
{{Div col end}}

Within business and commercial mediation, frequently a distinction is made between [[business-to-business]] (B2B), [[business-to-employee]] (B2E) and business-to-consumer (B2C) situations.

===Industrial relations===

====Australia====
ADR, Alternative Dispute Resolution, began in industrial relations in Australia long before the arrival of the modern ADR movement.<ref>{{harvnb|Boulle|2005|p=286}}</ref> One of the first statutes passed by the Commonwealth parliament was the Conciliation
and Arbitration Act 1904 (Cth). This allowed the Federal Government to pass laws on conciliation and arbitration for the prevention and settlement of industrial disputes extending beyond the limits of any one state. Conciliation has been the most prominently used form of ADR, and is generally far removed from modern mediation.

Significant changes in state policy took place from 1996 to 2007. The 1996 Workplace Relations Act (Cth) sought to shift the industrial system away from a collectivist approach, where unions and the [[Australian Industrial Relations Commission]] (AIRC) had strong roles, to a more decentralized system of individual bargaining between employers and employees.<ref>{{harvnb|Bamber|et al.|2000|p=43}}</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=October 2015}} The Act diminished the traditional role of the AIRC by placing the responsibility of resolving disputes at the enterprise level.<ref>{{harvnb|Boulle|2005|p=287}}</ref> This allowed mediation to be used to resolve industrial relations disputes instead of traditional conciliation.

In industrial relations under the 2006 [[WorkChoices]] amendments to the [[Workplace Relations Act 1996|Workplace Relations Act]]. Examples of this use of mediation can be seen in recent enterprise bargaining negotiations.
The Australian government claimed the benefits of mediation to include the following:<ref>{{harvnb|Van Gramberg|2006|p=11}}</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=October 2015}}

* Cost saving
* Reduced polarization
* Education
* Broader issues vs the courts
* Greater access to justice
* More control by disputant over the process

===Workplace matters===
The implementation of human resource management (HRM) policies and practices has evolved to focus on the individual worker, and rejects all other third parties such as unions and AIRC.<ref>{{harvnb|Van Gramberg|2006|p=173}}</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=October 2015}} HRM together with the political and economic changes undertaken by Australia's Howard government created an environment where private ADR can be fostered in the workplace.<ref>{{harvnb|Bamber|et al.|2000|p=45}}</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=October 2015}}

The decline of [[trade unionism|unionism]] and the rise of the individual encouraged the growth of mediation. This is demonstrated in the industries with the lowest unionization rates such as in the private business sector having the greatest growth of mediation.<ref>{{harvnb|Van Gramberg|2006|p=174}}</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=October 2015}}

The 2006 Work Choices Act made further legislative changes to deregulate industrial relations. A key element of the new changes was to weaken the AIRC by encouraging competition with private mediation.

A great variety of disputes occur in the workplace, including disputes between staff members, allegations of harassment, contractual disputes and workers compensation claims.<ref name=boul298>{{harvnb|Boulle|2005|p=298}}</ref> At large, workplace disputes are between people who have an ongoing working relationship within a closed system, which indicate that mediation or a workplace investigation would be appropriate as dispute resolution processes. However the complexity of relationships, involving hierarchy, job security and competitiveness can complicate mediation.<ref name=boul298/>

[[Party-directed mediation]] (PDM) is an emerging mediation approach particularly suited for disputes between co-workers, colleagues or peers, especially deep-seated interpersonal conflict, multicultural or multiethnic disputes. The mediator listens to each party separately in a pre-caucus or pre-mediation before ever bringing them into a joint session. Part of the pre-caucus also includes coaching and role plays. The idea is that the parties learn how to converse directly with their adversary in the joint session. Some unique challenges arise when organizational disputes involve supervisors and subordinates. The negotiated [[performance appraisal]] (NPA) is a tool for improving communication between supervisors and subordinates and is particularly useful as an alternate mediation model because it preserves the hierarchical power of supervisors while encouraging dialogue and dealing with differences in opinion.<ref>[http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/ucce50/ag-labor/7conflict/ Party-Directed Mediation: Facilitating Dialogue Between Individuals] (on-line 3rd Edition, 2014) by [[Gregorio Billikopf]], University of California</ref>

===Community mediation===
Disputes involving neighbors often have no official resolution mechanism. Community mediation centers generally focus on neighborhood conflict, with trained local volunteers serving as mediators. Such organizations often serve populations that cannot afford to utilize the courts or professional ADR-providers. Community programs typically provide mediation for disputes between landlords and tenants, members of homeowners associations and small businesses and consumers. Many community programs offer their services for free or at a nominal fee.

Experimental community mediation programs using volunteer mediators began in the early 1970s in several major U.S. cities. These proved to be so successful that hundreds of programs were founded throughout the country in the following two decades. In some jurisdictions, such as California, the parties have the option of making their agreement enforceable in court.

In Australia mediation was incorporated extensively into family law [[Family Law Act 1975]] and the 2006 Amendments Mandatory,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2006A00046|title = Family Law Amendment (Shared Parental Responsibility) Act 2006| date=July 2007 }}</ref> subject to certain exceptions, Family Dispute Resolution Mediation is required before courts will consider disputed parenting arrangements. The Family Dispute Resolution Practitioners who provide this service are accredited by the Attorney-General's Department.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ag.gov.au/FamiliesAndMarriage/Families/FamilyDisputeResolution/Pages/default.aspx|title = Family dispute resolution}}</ref>

[[Community accountability]] is a community-based strategy for a group of friends, a family, a neighborhood, etc. come together outside of the criminal justice system or any punitive system and hold people accountable as a community using [[transformative justice]], which may or may not include mediation.

===Peer mediation===
A peer mediator is one who resembles the disputants, such as being of similar age, attending the same school or having similar status in a business. Purportedly, peers can better relate to the disputants than an outsider.<ref name="Noaks">{{cite journal|author1=Noaks, J. |author2=Noaks, L. |name-list-style=amp |year=2009 |title=School-based peer mediation as a strategy for social inclusion|journal=Pastoral Care in Education|volume=27|issue=1|pages=53–61 |doi=10.1080/02643940902731880|s2cid=144186898 }}</ref>

Peer mediation promotes social cohesion and aids development of protective factors that create positive school climates.<ref name="Cremin">{{harvnb|Cremin|2007|p=119}}</ref> The National Healthy School Standard (Department for Education and Skills, 2004) highlighted the significance of this approach to reducing bullying and promoting pupil achievement.<ref name=Noaks/> Schools adopting this process recruit and train interested students to prepare them.

Peace Pals is an empirically validated peer mediation program.<ref>{{harvnb|Schellenberg|Parks-Savage|Rehfuss|2007}} The program's creator is Rita Schellenberg, counselor educator, counselor supervisor, and licensed school counselor.</ref> It was studied over a 5-year period and revealed several positive outcomes including a reduction in elementary school violence and enhanced social skills, while creating a more positive, peaceful school climate.<ref name=spsr>{{harvnb|Schellenberg|Parks-Savage|Rehfuss|2007}}</ref>

Peer mediation helped reduce crime in schools, saved counselor and administrator time, enhanced self-esteem, improved attendance and encouraged development of leadership and problem-solving skills among students. Such conflict resolution programs increased in U.S. schools 40% between 1991 and 1999.<ref name="Gerber">Gerber, S 1999, 'Does peer mediation really work?', Professional School Counseling, 2, 3, 169</ref>

Peace Pals was studied in a diverse, suburban elementary school. Peer mediation was available to all students (N = 825). Significant and long-term reductions in school-wide violence over a five-year period occurred. The reductions included both verbal and physical conflict. Mediator knowledge made significant gains pertaining to conflict, conflict resolution and mediation, which was maintained at 3-month follow-up. Additionally, mediators and participants viewed the ''Peace Pals'' program as effective and valuable, and all mediation sessions resulted in successful resolution.<ref name=spsr/>

===Commercial disputes===
The commercial domain remains one of the most common applications of mediation,<ref>{{Cite book |title=Mediation in International Commercial and Investment Disputes |date=30 July 2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2019 |isbn=9780198827955 |editor-last=Catharine Titi |editor-first=Katia Fach Gómez}}</ref> as measured by the number of mediators and the total value of disputes.{{Citation needed|date=August 2008}} The result of business mediation is typically a [[bilateral contract]].

Commercial mediation includes work in [[finance]], [[insurance]], [[shipbroking|ship-brokering]], [[procurement]] and [[real estate]]. In some areas, mediators have specialized designations and typically operate under special laws. Generally, mediators cannot themselves practice commerce in markets for goods in which they work as mediators.

Procurement mediation comprises disputes between a public body and a private body. In common law jurisdictions only regulatory stipulations on creation of supply contracts that derive from the fields of State Aids (EU Law and domestic application) or general administrative guidelines extend ordinary laws of commerce. The general law of contract applies in the UK accordingly. Procurement mediation occurs in circumstances after creation of the contract where a dispute arises in regard to the performance or payments. A Procurement mediator in the UK may choose to specialise in this type of contract or a public body may appoint an individual to a specific mediation panel.

===Native-title mediation===
In response to the [[Mabo v Queensland (No 2)|Mabo]] decision, the Australian Government sought to engage the population and industry on Mabo's implications for land tenure and use by enacting the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth), which required mediation as a mechanism to determine future native title rights. The process incorporated the Federal Court and the [[National Native Title Tribunal]] (NNTT). Mediation can occur in parallel with legal challenges, such as occurred in Perth.

Some features of native title mediation that distinguish it from other forms include lengthy time frames, the number of parties (ranging on occasion into the hundreds) and that statutory and case law prescriptions constrain some aspects of the negotiations.

===Global relevance===
Mediation's effectiveness in trans-border disputes has been questioned, but an understanding of fundamental mediation principles points to the unlimited potential of mediation in such disputes. Mediators explicitly address and manage cultural and language differences in detail during the process. Voluntary referral to mediation is not required—much mediation to reach the table through binding contractual provisions, statutes, treaties, or international agreements and accords. The principle of voluntariness applies to the right of parties to [[self-determination]] once they are in the mediation—not to the mechanism for initiating the mediation process. Much mediation also results form mutual consent because they are non-binding and they encourage the exploration of interests and mutual benefits of an agreement. Because the parties, themselves, create the terms of agreement, compliance with mediated settlement agreements is relatively high. Any compliance or implementation issues can be addressed by follow-up mediation, regular compliance monitoring, and other processes.