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Linked below is an article recently published in the Queensland Bar’s Law Journal, Hearsay.  It is a comparison of the Australian Federal Civil Procedure and the Florida Mediation code, emphasizing the compatibility of the two systems. 

As the field of conflict resolution evolves and becomes more all encompassing, the field needs to cross-hybridize elements from different domestic legal systems, so that the field itself can draw from the advantages learned in each nation. 

Cross-hybridization also allows for mediation and other ADR modalities to leave behind outdated methodologies like a snake leaves behind its skin when it becomes old and obsolete.
 
The primary thrust of the article is that Australia’s lack of a volunteer mediation program hurts all parties because it deprives the community and the field of valuable interaction with mediation.  It hurts the citizenry because, in general, small claims cases do not have the value for pro se litigants to seek out a mediator to solve their disputes. 

It hurts the legal community because once again the values of the cases are so small and the length of time it take a case to progress through the Australian legal system can be staggering.  Integration of a volunteer program helps the courts because it lowers the case loads placed on the judges and also reduces the cost. 

Finally, integration helps mediators because it gives young mediators an opportunity to volunteer and gain valuable experience.  Overall, Australia not having a volunteer mediation program is likely costing it hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, and the implementation of a program would have only a limited cost.
http://www.hearsay.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=327&Itemid=203 

This entry was posted on Monday, June 2nd, 2008 at 12:55 pm and is filed under Conflict, Mediation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.