What is Mediation?

If you want to bring an end to long-standing conflict, you have to be prepared to compromise.' Aung San Suu Kyi

'Anger is never without a reason, but seldom with a good one.' Benjamin Franklin

Mediation is an effective way to resolve disputes, which encourages the parties to look to the future rather than raking over the past. By using private meetings with each party and round-table meetings with parties and/or their lawyers and/or their exerts, where helpful, a good mediator can help the parties to view the conflict in a different light. Often, anger and other strong emotion (including a distorted sense of "justice") create unconscious bias and can render it difficult for people to think logically and creatively about potential solutions. Through the use of reflective listening, re-framing, patient analysis of the underlying causes of the conflict and a variety of other tools and techniques, an effective mediator can achieve resolution of apparently intractable situations.

Mediation is a flexible, voluntary, cost-effective and confidential process involving the appointment of one or more neutral third parties as (joint) mediators to facilitate the negotiations between two or more parties, usually involving the resolution of some form of dispute. Whilst there are several mediation models, the process adopted by the mediator will be determined by his view of how best to facilitate the further negotiations. The parties will be guided as to what they need to do as part of the process, but always remain in control of their decision as to whether or not a satisfactory outcome has been achieved, and whether they wish to enter into a settlement agreement.

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