Mediation to ease pressure on courts
System designed to promote dialogue
NEW regional regulations establish how mediation can be used as an alternative method of conflict resolution to the courts.
Regional vice-president Mónica Oltra explained that it can be applied ‘in all kinds of controversies, either as part of a judicial process or as an alternative’.
She noted that it makes Valencia the only region which offers use of mediation ‘in all jurisdictions’.
The advantages of taking this route of dialogue and consensus include speeding up the resolution process, ‘as while a legal battle may take 10-14 months to resolve, with mediation this can be reduced to three months’.
It also involves the public in the negotiation processes.
Sra Oltra calculated that this method could be used to resolve more than 5,000 cases that the courts have pending.
“This procedure is of a voluntary nature and is applicable in cases when the parties expressly or tacitly decide to use it,” she said.
“One of them must have their home in the Valencia region, although this is not necessary if the conflict falls within the jurisdiction of the region’s courts.”
Moreover, the person mediating must be on the official register of mediators and the mediation must take place in the Valencia region or online.
These regulations are a development of the law authorising use of mediation, which the regional government passed at the end of 2018.
They explain how the regional register of mediators should be managed so that members of the public can use a simple internet search to find information about registered people and organisations.
They also specify what training mediators must have received in order to form part of the system, and what ongoing training they must undertake.
People and organisations that mediate must also have public liability insurance to cover any possible damages or losses that may result
from their work.
Furthermore, the regulations create a seal of quality to certify that registered mediators meet certain quality standards and requirements.
Significantly, access to mediation will be free for people with low financial resources, subject to the same terms as conditions as for beneficiaries of free legal representation.
It will also be free for people with disabilities if the cases are related to their health or disability, and for people who have been legally classified as a victim of a crime due to the circumstances of the case in question.
As a result Valencia is also the first region to offer free mediation to people with disabilities and victims of crime, regardless of their financial situation.
The right to free mediation not only covers the professional services of the person designated by the mediation centre, but also use of places allocated by the regional justice department for this purpose.