Why choose mediation?
What is the difference between mediation and court/arbitration?
Mediation differs significantly from litigation and arbitration procedures. It is their alternative.
Firstly, the mediation procedure is not conducted according to the rules of procedural laws such as the Civil Procedure Code. In it, no subpoenas are sent,, witnesses are not questioned and evidence is not necessarily presented. In certain cases, only an expert assessment can be carried out if both parties have agreed to it. In the mediation procedure, there are no claimant and no defendant.It does not take place in a courtroom and there is no stipulation as to where it takes place and how the parties should be seated during the mediation.
The mediator is not a judge judge and is not part of the justice system. He is not a magistrate. The mediator is not an arbitrator. Judges and arbitrators control the judicial process, according to the rules of the procedural laws, and the mediator only assists the parties.
The mediation procedure is conducted only with the consent of both parties based on an agreement between them. Court proceedings always start at the request of one party, and the other party is called as a defendant in the case, regardless of whether he wants to participate in it or not.
All court cases are public. In arbitration proceedings, the proceedings are not public, but in mediation, the proceedings are completely confidential. The mediator has no right to disseminate any information that becomes known to him during the mediation procedure. He has no right to share even what either parties has communicated to him, unless it has desired or consented to it.
During the court or arbitration case, the proceedings are adversarial. Mediation proceedings are collaborative.
The form of mediation proceedings is mostly informal. No protocol is kept, laws are not necessarily brought./ the mediator can only take notes/, you don't enter a courtroom. The time and place of the mediation procedure shall be determined jointly by both parties and need not be on a business day.
During mediation the deciding authority is not the judge or arbitrator, but are parties themselves.
Court and arbitration proceedings always end with a decision rendered by a judge/arbitrator based on law. In contrast, the mediation procedure ends with an agreementbased solely on the interests of both parties. Of course, it must correspond to morals and good manners.
Unlike a court decision, an agreement is not published or appealed to another authority. It enters into force immediately or begins to be implemented as agreed between the parties. The agreement does not use the so-called "force of a thing conferred.".
After a court/arbitration case is concluded, there is always a "winner" and a "loser". After the mediation procedure, both parties "win".
In most cases, the court decision is enforced onto the "losing" party. The agreement after a mediation procedure is implemented voluntarily. It is not a document on the basis of which you can resort to the services of a bailiff.
As in court proceedings, the parties may participate in person and/or through a representative. During the mediation procedure the participation of a lawyer is permissiblebut it is not mandatory and no official lawyer is appointed. However, in some hypotheses, such as in commercial mediation, it is recommended that the parties use the services of a lawyer.
The main advantage of the mediation process is its speed and efficiency. A mediation session usually lasts up to several hours, during which time the parties can work together to resolve your conflict. Court proceedings usually last for years. Court proceedings can take place in multiple court hearings, which are scheduled with huge time gaps between each, usually months. Only the court, by law, has a one-month deadline to pronounce a court decision after the conclusion of the last court session.
Mediation is much cheaper than litigation and even cheaper than arbitration. For comparison, you can look at the "Tariff Charged by the Courts" as well as the "Tariff for Arbitration Fees and Expenses" and compare it with the one published on this website in the "Mediation Fees" section. If we add the attorney's fee that you have to pay in a court case, the amounts of which you can find your way in the "Tariff for the minimum attorney's fees", we should conclude that in certain cases the mediation procedure can cost ten times less from the court/arbitration process.
