NCJ Number
204345
Date Published
2003
Length
221 pages
Annotation
This study evaluated two mediation projects under the Netherlands justice policy promoting Alternative Dispute Resolution both before and during court proceedings and what results are being achieved with mediation and what circumstances are important to the process.
Abstract
Mediation is seen as contributing to decreasing the number of court cases. Mediation can lead to delegalizing conflicts and has the advantage of keeping individuals responsible for their conflict. In the Netherlands, promoting Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is part of justice policy. Two comprehensive mediation projects were initiated under this policy. The first, the court-based model seeks to investigate whether or not referral to mediation during legal proceedings has significant added value. The second concerns the referral of clients by the legal aid service. The evaluation of the projects consisted of two parts: (1) focusing on the organization and the performance of both projects and (2) the quality of the referral procedure and the mediation process, specifically the mediation agreement. In the court-based project 61 percent of the mediations reached an agreement and in the legal aid project 78 percent were successful. In both projects, the parties involved were satisfied with the mediation and with the skills of the mediator. They indicated that they would choose mediation in the future. The results indicate that there is no best practice in the method of referral and no best criterion for selecting cases for referral. The most important condition for reaching an agreement is the willingness of both parties to negotiate. The conclusion drawn is that there is room for negotiation both before and during court proceedings. Future research should investigate whether the investment in management, quality, and support needed to keep referral to mediation successful brings the expected benefits.