The Fourteenth Mediation Forum titled: “which legal framework suits an effective mediation process? Choices of the legislature in Palestine and The Arab World”
ACT Conflict Resolution, through its project “Time to ADR in East Jerusalem” supported by Swasiyah Program Palestine and in partnership with the Palestinian Ministry of Justice, held its fourteenth webinar titled: “which legal framework suits an effective mediation process? Choices of the legislature in Palestine and The Arab World” on Thursday the 13th of July 2023 at 8:30 PM Jerusalem time. The webinar hosted Salma Al-Baz from Egypt, while Advocate Faten Ben Lamine was facilitating the webinar.
It is worth noting that Salma Al-Baz (Egypt) is an accredited mediator in the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) which is situated in London. Salma has represented clients who decided to resort to mediation as a dispute resolution mechanism. Moreover, she has trained potential mediators in The Middle East as well as North Africa. The training Salma has conducted comes as a part of a project belonging to The International Finance Corporation (IFC) which is linked to The Commercial International Bank (CIB).
Throughout the webinar, Salma has showcased all the difficulties facing mediators with their attempts in spreading the culture of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) as a means of resolving conflicts, as well as showing that these ADR mechanisms can be somewhat synonymous to legal efforts in facing what is now known as: “Judicial Bottleneck.” Mediation proves to be more suitable in resolving conflicts especially since it has proven both the efficiency and the capability of this “Third Party” known as the “Mediator” in resolving dispute cases by reinforcing effective communication between the parties of the dispute, as well as motivating them to have a direct discourse.
Salma has emphasized that mediation cannot be a mere theory, quite the contrary, she has shown that mediation is a basic mechanism for resolving disputes; since mediation stopped being a sub-mechanism acting as an alternative to the original method of resolving disputes (i.e. the court system). Mediation has become a core necessity needed to be integrated in our societies to help making the culture of discourse, societal peace, and stability in economic procedures become more prevalent through strengthening values of trust, transparency in relationships, and the principle of good faith.
Salma has also mentioned the importance of reinforcing the mediation process as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism by regarding the necessity of working to spread the culture of mediation in our societies, and resorting to mediation as a complementary mean for the judiciary system. Moreover, mediation can play the role of supporting judicial efforts to deliver rights to its owners effectively and efficiently.
Salma has assured the necessity for countries to integrate mediation within its internal laws and legislative options. Moreover, it is extremely important to choose a suitable framework that appeals with the reality of mediation and the nature of its societies. This can be achieved by having these countries choose a certain prototype in favor of the other, or pick a certain style for mediation or even a certain type of mediation, in any way that guarantees that the mediation process is compatible with the country’s environment, systems, economic framework, social frameworks, and political orientations.
ACT Conflict Resolution conduct the Mediation Forum webinars monthly, and it seeks through this forum to shed the light on mediation as a perfect mean for alternative dispute resolution, which in its turn, aid in resolving disputes, preventing the growth of these disputes, and limiting the judicial burden in processing the cases brought to courts.
Link to the full session (Arabic Only):
