MDM at European Family Mediation Forum

Dr William Azzopardi recently represented Malta Dispute Management at the General Assembly of the European Forum of Training and Research in Family Mediation, which he addressed.

While family mediation spreads like wildfire throughout Europe, judges, therapists, social workers and lawyers working as mediators got together in Rome to smoothen differences, learn from each other and look to the future.

What is family mediation?

Family mediation is not advice-giving, counselling or therapy, and cannot be seen as their substitute. It is an alternative dispute resolution method.

The European Forum of Training and Research in Family Mediation defines it as a process in which a specially trained third party is requested by the parties to help them deal with the reordering of their arrangements following their separation, in the context of current legislation.

It is usually a cheaper, cleaner alternative to litigation in court in which the parties retain control over the outcome.

Malta's European perspective

With effect from this year, Malta via Malta Dispute Management (MDM) has become a full member of the European Forum of Training and Research in Family Mediation, having training that is accredited by the Forum and a vote in the General Assembly.

MDM is a joint venture between the law firms Fenech & Fenech and Ganado Sammut. It was set up to offer training, consultancy and mediation services in a wide range of sectors. It also incorporates the Malta Centre for Mediation Services as its training arm.

It is officially supported by the Malta Chamber of Commerce. MDM operates in association with De Bono Thinking methods, the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) in the UK, the Singapore Mediation Centre and the World Mediation Forum. Accredited mediators in various fields work for or are associated with MDM.

Malta has become the 12th member of the Forum, joining Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, England and Wales, Eire, Italy, Portugal, Scotland, Spain and Switzerland, just ahead of Poland, which also joined this year.

The Standards Committee of the Forum makes sure the training offered in various European states is up to European standards and that a European service user can expect a certain quality of service throughout.

Advancements in the field throughout Europe

There are various differences throughout Europe insofar as legal provision for family mediation is concerned. In England, for example, the Family Law Act 1996 provides legal recognition and requires lawyers to refer clients seeking legal aid for family proceedings to a state-registered family mediator.

Family mediation is both encouraged and regulated. In Italy, the only indirect reference the legislator made to family mediation came in 2001 with amendments to domestic violence legislation.

A judge can refer litigants to family mediation, where payment of maintenance can be agreed on according to the means of the parties to sustain victims.

Otherwise, there is no legislation whatsoever in Italy on the discipline of family mediation, despite an increase in its provision in the main cities, especially those of the north.

Some states have gone so far as to organise mediation for international family disputes in a bid to stop the suffering of children who are caught in interstate conflicts.

In France, where mediation has a prominent place in national legislation, the International Family Mediation Helping Mission, set up with the assistance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has a multi-disciplinary team to work exclusively on these issues.

The costs of the mediation as well as the maintenance and travelling costs of the litigants themselves are paid by the French government.

The French and German governments have also developed a practice with a French and a German co-mediator to solve family conflicts between the two countries while a voluntary organisation called Re-.Unite in England is also working on the same lines.

There has been an increased interest in the study of family mediation throughout Europe and Israel.

Lately, East European countries have shown great interest in family mediation. On the initiative of the Polish Ministry of Justice, for example, training for prospective family mediators and family mediation practice have been introduced. Changes in the Polish Civil Code are being proposed.

Difficulties and challenges

In a number of European countries, including our own, family mediation is still unknown to potential users. Reaching out is very much a challenge in itself.

Although the benefits to users, their children and society as a whole are many, they may get carried away by litigation. The other extreme and another challenge lies in forcing it on everyone!

Governments may be eager to cut public expenditure on legal services and reduce access to justice. Yet, mediation may not be suited to all cases and cannot be compulsory.

The lesson from England and Wales is that the take-up of mediation is greatly increased if separating couples are required by law to attend, not mediation itself, that is of its very nature voluntary, but an information meeting.

In those countries where mediation has been in existence for some time, such as England, where it started in 1978, mutual respect and co-operation is now in place between lawyers and mediators.

Mediators and lawyers should not be like warring separating parents fighting for possession of the mediation child. Mediators need to refer clients to lawyers for legal advice and lawyers need to refer their clients to mediation.

Generally, lawyers don't want to spend hours of their time with very tense clients, who may want to discuss details of the children's contacts with the other parent. They may also feel unequipped to face the emotions that surround the issues of separation.

Once they understand the mediation process, lawyers can guide their clients through it in the same way they guide clients through court procedures.

Family mediation service to the public

Apart from offering training in family mediation, MDM is offering family mediation to the public. The process encourages the separating couple to reach joint decisions about parenting of children, financial matters, family home, assets and property.

The mediators have also been trained especially to deal with children's issues and, where need be, to interview children in a healthy way. At the end of a number of sessions, a draft agreement is produced, which the parties can take to their respective lawyers for advice.

Anyone interested can call MDM on tel: 2599-0631.