MEDIATION 101

Mediation as the word implies is going-between two opposing persons or parties.  And in the present Philippine judicial system, there is court-annexed mediation in Philippine Mediation Center (PMC) units all over the country.  They are usually housed in the Halls of Justice or the City Hall.  Parties in court cases are first referred to these PMC units pre-trial, in the effort to get the parties to settle before trial proper begins. We see this being covered by the evening news telecast of high-profile cases mostly of movie celebrities.

However, mediation can occur at any point before and after trial commences, in whatever level of court. While mediation is usually an intervention at the Municipal or Regional Trial Court, it can be likewise be done at the Court of Appeals or even the Supreme Court.  Even judges and justices are called to mediate cases under them.    

Rationale is the unclogging of the court dockets, already groaning with cases for trial and decision.  

A trend abroad that is catching up here is private mediation.  Trained and experienced mediators from various fields of endeavor are proactively preventing the filing of even more cases in court.  Counseling and psychological testing are also offered to disputants who come to mediation by themselves first.  Later on, they may bring the other party in their dispute, for mediation proper.

What happens in mediation?  Two (or more) disputants sit down calmly and rationally with an impartial and objective mediator.  The process is explained by the mediator.  Ground rules are likewise set and agreed upon by all. Then, both/all sides to the dispute are allowed to state their needs and interests being impeded by the other/s.  The mediator facilitates, monitors, summarizes each side.      

Negotiation then ensues.  The mediator motivates each side to lower their demands and meet the other/s half-way.  Otherwise, there is the likelihood of more losses in lawyer and court filing fees, breakdown of relationship/s, and other aggravations on time, patience, perhaps even threat to life.  In court, too, one wins over the other.  In mediation, both win, even if not as much as expected, although surely away from suit.

The settlement is agreed upon by the disputants themselves, who are the ones to implement them, anyway. Witnesses with filial, moral, professional, or religious ascendancy over disputants ensure their enforcement. Some publish their agreed upon action to placate the aggrieved party.  A legal back-up, too, is the filing of the settlement with the clerk of court nearest the residence of one of the disputants.