A practical reference providing detailed information and expert commentary on implementation of mediation law across 27 EU Member States, organized by country, with trends and differences analysed. Considers key Mediation Directive legislation following its entry into force and implementation.

A practical reference on the EU rules and international initiatives that impact directly on EU cross-border disputes, this handbook is a must-have for any practitioner of cross-border mediation. The EU Mediation Directive 2008/52/EC laid down obligations on EU Member States to encourage quality of mediators and providers across specific compliance considerations, including codes of conduct and training, court referral, enforceability of mediated settlements, confidentiality of mediation, the effect of mediation on limitation periods, and encouraging public information. The book is organized into clear and consistent themes, structured and numbered in a common format to provide easily accessible provisions and commentary across the essential considerations of the Directive. All EU countries which have complied, along with Denmark (which opted out of implementing the Directive), or attempted to comply, with the Directive are included, allowing straightforward comparison of key issues across the different countries in this important and evolving area. Supplementary points of practical use, such as statistics on the success rates of mediation and advice on the requirements for parties to participate in mediation, and for parties and lawyers to consider mediation, add further value to the jurisdiction-specific commentary. A comparative table of the mediation laws forms an invaluable quick-reference appendix for an overview and comparison of the information of each jurisdiction, together with English translations of each country's mediation law or legislative provisions. Address this dynamic area of law with the benefit of guidance across all elements of the Directive impacting practice, provided by respected and experienced editors from the knowledgeable European authority in mediation, ADR Center, along with a host of expert contributors.

Mediation is rapidly becoming a norm in cross-border dispute resolution among European Union (EU) Member States. Accordingly, an important question for legal advisers to ask themselves is: Which jurisdiction offers the best legal framework to support a potential future mediation of my client’s dispute? This book responds to this question by examining the law on mediation in each Member State on a chapter-by-chapter basis. Each country analysis applies the book’s overarching principle of a specially designed Regulatory Robustness Rating System, which is thoroughly explained in an introductory chapter. This framework offers a highly effective way to analyse the quality and robustness of each of the EU’s twenty-nine national jurisdictions’ legal frameworks relevant to mediation (including legislation, case law, practice directions, codes of conduct, standards, and other regulatory instruments) and factor such an analysis into choices about governing law in mediation clauses and other agreements. Among the issues and topics covered are the following: • congruence of domestic and international legal frameworks; • transparency and clarity of content of mediation laws; • standards and qualifications for mediators; • rights and obligations of participants in mediation; • access to mediation services; • access to internationally recognised and skilled mediators; • enforceability of clauses and mediated settlement agreements; • confidentiality and flexibility; • admissibility of evidence from mediation in subsequent proceedings; • impact of commencement of mediation on litigation limitation periods; • relationship and attitude of courts to mediation; and • regulatory incentives for legal advisers to engage in mediation. This detailed analysis clearly allows users and other regulatory stakeholders to look closely and critically at regulatory regimes for mediation in order to make informed choices and develop appropriate strategies in relation to the law that governs their mediation. This is the first book to consider authoritatively what makes good mediation law and what makes a jurisdiction attractive for cross-border mediation purposes in terms of its regulatory framework. As a resource that identifies potential strengths and weaknesses of each EU Member State’s regulatory regime, it has no peers and will be welcomed and put to use by the alternative dispute resolution community in Europe and beyond.

EU Cross-Border Commercial Mediation' is a book which focuses on the European Union?s (EU?s) continued efforts to encourage the use of cross-border mediation and examines why such efforts have had a limited impact. It does so by drawing on rare, and at times surprising, detailed insights from the in-house counsel of multinational companies regarding their use of EU cross-border commercial mediation. By viewing mediation through the disputants? perspective, new and important findings regarding why disputants do, and do not, use cross-border mediation have emerged. While these findings are of primary relevance to EU policy and practice, they have implications far beyond the EU context at a time of increasing international interest in cross-border mediation.

This book examines the intersection of EU law and international arbitration based on the experience of leading practitioners in both commercial and investment treaty arbitration law. It expertly illustrates the depth and breadth of EU law’s impact on party autonomy and on the margin of appreciation available to arbitral tribunals.

Whether the and‘Aand’ stands for and‘appropriateand’, and‘amicableand’, or and‘alternativeand’, all out of court dispute resolution modes, collected under the banner term and‘ADRand’, aim to assist the business world in overcoming relational differences in a truly manageable way. The first edition of this book (2006) contributed to a global awareness that ADR is important in its own right, and not simply as a substitute for litigation or arbitration. Now, drawing on a wealth of new sources and developments, including the flourishing of hybrid forms of ADR, the subject matter has been largely augmented and expanded on two fronts: in-depth analysis (both descriptive and comparative) of methodology, expectations and outcomes and extended geographical coverage across all continents. As a result, in this book twenty-nine and‘intertwined but variegatedand’ essays (to use the editorand’s characterization) provide substantial insight in such specific topics as: ADRand’s flexible procedures as controlled by the parties; ADRand’s facilitation of the continuation of relations between the parties; privilege and confidentiality; involvement of non-legal professionals; the identity and the role of the and‘neutraland’ as well as the role of the arbitrator; the implementation of ICC and other international ADR rules; the workings of Dispute Boards and the role of ADR in securing investment and other specific objectives. In its compound thesis and– growing in relevance every day and– that numerous dispute resolution methods exist whose goals and developments are varied but fundamentally complementary, the multifaceted approach presented here is of immeasurable value to any business party, particularly at the international level. Practitioners faced with drafting a dispute resolution clause in a contract, or dealing with a dispute that has arisen, will find expert guidance here, and academics will expand their awareness of the issues raised by ADR, in particular as it relates to arbitration. A broad cross section of interested professionals will discover ample material for comparative study of how disputes are approached and resolved in numerous countries and cultures.

This volume contains the contributions delivered at CEFL's sixth international conference, which focused on comparative and international family law in Europe in their respective cultural contexts. Inter alia in this book CEFL experts and other legal scholars address the CEFL and its Principles, the interrelation of family law and family sociology, family migration, childrens and womens fundamental rights, as well as the developing concept of parenthood, the role of children in family proceedings, extra-judicial divorces and ADR in family matters.While the development of modern trends in European family law is going on, some new challenges arise and old challenges remain. The awareness of more plurality and diversity in family relationships is increasing. Both pose problems. New legal solutions have to be integrated into the existing family law system. On the other hand, there are tensions between modern fundamental values and traditional religious solutions. For both a deeper analysis is necessary.The conference, and in turn the book, aims to enhance the exchange of ideas and arguments on comparative and international family law in Europe.