Mediation law refers to a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in which the parties to a lawsuit meet with a neutral third-party in an effort to settle the case. The third-party is called a mediator.
What is the difference between Mediation & Arbitration?
In an arbitration, the arbitrator looks into the legal rights and wrongs of a dispute and makes a decision which is binding on parties whether they agree with it or not. There is usually a winning and a losing party in an arbitration.
In a mediation, the mediator helps parties to settle their disputes by a process of discussion and narrowing differences. The mediator helps the parties to arrive at an agreed solution. He does not decide the dispute. A successful mediation results in an agreement signed by the parties. There is no such thing as a winning or losing party, because there is no binding decision without both parties agreeing to one.
What are the Advantages & Disadvantages of mediation?
Advantages:
The solution to the dispute is tailor made to suit the parties i.e. it is a win-win solution. In mediation, as opposed to court verdicts or arbitration awards which are given by third parties, the solutions to mediation are those which the mediator spurs the parties to come up with. The mediator does not make the solution, he is a catalyst of sorts, to spur them towards whatever solution is convenient to both parties. In court and in arbitration, there is always a loser and a winner – and the winner usually takes it all.
Advantage number ii) is a corollary of advantage number i) – mediation preserves relationships. Since the solution to a dispute has to come from the parties in conflict, the solution has to accommodate both of them. Everyone therefore leaves the negotiation table satisfied. One does not burn the bridge to the other person since their concerns are accommodated in the solution. Court verdicts and arbitration awards usually leave no love lost between the disputants because someone has to lose and another wins.
Mediation is cost effective – A mediation session can last for only a few hours and be completed with a workable solution. An arbitration or a court case usually takes years to end. The quick resolution of the teachers’ strike when the case was referred to mediation by the Court of Appeal is a point in case.
Mediation is “democratic’ – Anyone, even a lay person (think of your village elder) can be trained to be a mediator in a matter of days. An arbitrator usually takes multiple courses and is almost invariably a professional. The qualification of a Judge is even more exacting – a thorough mastery of the law and years of experience is required. Therefore, mediation can be done at any station of life for even the most mundane of disputes e.g. Landlord and tenant disputes, boundary disputes with relatives and neighbors, partnership/ directors disputes, employee- employee workplace disputes etc.
Disadvantages:
Mediation can easily end in gridlocks – if the mediator is not skilled enough or if the disputants are completely opposed to each other’s position. Since the solutions to mediation must come from the parties, parties who hold non-negotiable positions cannot be mediated because they won’t compromise so as to achieve a win-win solution. The best example of this is the constant failure of mediation talks by repeat presidents of the United States on the Palestinian and Israeli dispute over Jerusalem. Both sides refuse to compromise on sharing the City of Jerusalem no matter which president mediates the talks.
Not all disputes can be resolved by mediation especially where a legal position needs to be determined. Is a child born in the Kenyan airspace but in a French airline a Kenyan citizen? This is not a question that can be referred to mediation; only a court of law can pronounce on the legal status of such a child. The disputes best suited for mediation are those that involve facts which can be settled by compromises as opposed to determination of legal positions. Can a victim of rape and the offender be referred to mediation? Can the dispute be settled by the exchange of a few camels or should the perpetrator see the inside of a jail cell? Mediation has its limits.
The execution of mediation settlements depends on the good will of the parties. Court verdicts and Arbitration awards are legally enforceable through the coercive power of the state e.g. attachment and sale of the property of the recalcitrant party. Mediation settlements depend on the parties’ sensibilities in sticking to their settlement terms; and people are not always sensible. To counter this menace, the court mandated mediation system makes provision for filing the mediation settlement in court and thereby adopting it as an order of the court hence enforceable through the coercive power of the state.
Is a mediation agreement legally binding?
A mediation settlement is as binding as any other contract. To enforce the contract however, one has to sue in court under the normal process of law. That said, mediation settlements under the Kenyan Courts Mediation Project are enforceable as orders of the court without the need for the prolonged trial process that a party trying to enforce a contract has to go through.
How does the process of mediation work?
The process depends on the type of mediation being undertaken and the technique of the mediator. Types of mediation include family mediations, workplace mediation, community mediation (where various communities are at loggerheads) etc. A mediator can choose to hear the parties in a joint session first then break into a private session with each of them to allow them to fully open up on their grievances. He may then present the solution of each of the parties to their counterpart where the other party does not feel vulnerable if he accepts a compromise or the weakness of his case in private. Finally, the mediator can call a joint session to adopt a compromise and have the parties sign the
mediation settlement/agreement.
What is the cost of Mediation?
There is a remuneration scale that mediators from various institutes use. It may be well to ask the mediator what scale he uses. The parties could also craft their own scale to suit their circumstances and the nature of the dispute. A dispute over a land boundary between relatives will not cost the same as a mediation between two multinational corporations over a license to a product worth a billion. Generally, mediators charge for their services by the hour. Parties are advised to ask about the cost of the mediation at the earliest opportunity. This is the first thing that a mediator discusses to avoid turning one dispute into yet a bigger one over the expense of the mediator.
Article by:
David Kalii
Associate
