The Future of mediation training and the rise of global standards of quality

Abstract

This paper intends to provide an overview of the efforts spent and results achieved in setting up a framework of training standards for Mediators capable to guarantee a balanced mix of flexibility and quality. Reference will be made mainly to the work done by the Council of Europe (COE) through its European Center for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ). This choice is 2 justified by the growing acceptance the mediation Toolkit elaborated by CEPEJ in cooperation with the International Mediation institute (IMI) is gaining at State level and by a number of national and international mediation providers. All them testifying for the CEPEJ/IMI Basic Mediator Training Curriculum as the benchmark in the area of mediation training worldwide.

With respect to parties and mediation users in general, in an international setting especially, in view of the many different ways in which mediation could be deployed in different Countries with different legal systems and sometimes very different cultural attitudes towards mediation as a process, predictability becomes of paramount importance and so it is essential to reflect on a common set of standard features of mediation, the ways in which the relationship, its process and the content are carried out. The same goes for the mediator, his/her features, preparation, attitudes towards the management of the parties the process, the outcome and the ethical standards he/she purports to abide.