Since the enactment of the first Law on mediation in 2006 up to date, there has been an improvement in the use of mediation. The late implementation of the 2013 amendments to the law revealed weaknesses recently, thus a new law has been passed. With the entry into force of the new Law on Mediation in January 2022, the Ministry of Justice under the slogan "There is a Solution" announced the start of a campaign to promote mediation as an alternative way of resolving disputes and raise awareness among citizens about its benefits. Moreover, in April 2022, pursuant to the Law, relevant by-laws were adopted and promulgated. Additionally, the adoption of the new law foresees the establishment of the National Mediation Council, a body of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia, which is expected to be independent and independently ensure, monitor and evaluate the quality of mediation work within the framework of competences established by law, the first national coordinator was elected. The Law is expected to be implemented consistently in carrying out the appointment procedure of members of the National Mediation Council. Simultaneously, in that direction, the research and training conducted within the project show that there is a significant need to improve the quality of mediators, as well as greater engagement of judges and prosecutors.
How is the implementation of the other legally established competencies going and what has been done so far within the campaign to promote mediation? Are all relevant stakeholders working sufficiently on the promotion of mediation? What should be done to improve the quality of mediators?
Conference objectives
To present the findings of the analysis and enable a detailed discussion on state-of-affairs in the use of mediation;
Тo show the measures taken so far by the relevant stakeholders and the future measures planned to be taken in order to improve the use of mediation;
To identify the remaining steps to be taken to improve the quality of mediators.
The conference was held as part of the project “Mediate, do not hesitate!“, implemented by the European Policy Institute (EPI)- Skopje in cooperation with The Academy for Judges and Public Prosecutors “Pavel Shatev”, The Chamber of Mediators of the Republic of North Macedonia and The Mediators Federation Netherlands. The project is supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Skopje. Notably, the project aims to contribute to the promotion and enhanced use of mediation through joint actions, dialogue and evidence-based representation, as well as to strengthen the capacities of mediators, judges, public prosecutors and the Chamber of Mediators.