2017-05-10T10:25:15Z

2017-05-10

Default License

Recent legal aspects of judicial mediation: a Case Study with special references to Court of First Instance of Thessaloniki

The present dissertation has three principal parts. The first one is an overview of the legislative environment of judicial mediation in the European Union and in Greece according to the provisions of the Greek Procedural Civil Code, with emphasis to the process of judicial mediation in Thessaloniki’s Court of First Instance. Then we examine how a judge can act as a mediator and the significant differences between Mediation and Judicial Mediation. The second part contains the unfolding mediation process and how it responds to the cases that were presented to the Court of First Instance of Thessaloniki. Finally, in the third part we conclude by suggesting some continuing challenges, together with an annex of a form of minutes of judicial mediation as lodged to the secretary of the Court of First Instance of Thessaloniki.

Conflict of laws--Commercial law--Greece

Arbitration and award--Greece

free

School of Economics, Business Administration and Legal Studies, Executive MBA

2017-01-24

This dissertation was written as part of the LLM in Transnational and European Commercial Law, Mediation, Arbitration and Energy Law at the International Hellenic University, aiming to provide a comprehensive and thorough review of the essentials of the Judicial Mediation in Greece. It is undisputable that conflict lies at the heart of the democratic process. The most innovative decisions are engendered by productive dialogue that explores different proposals and views with main aim the creative solutions. That is why it is more than challenging to transformation of the conflict from a destructive and adversarial battling to a creative solution of a problem. In the framework of ensuring a balanced relationship between Mediation and Judicial Proceedings, the European Parliament adopted Directive 2008/52/EC on May 21, 2008 under its EU target for obtaining alternative ways of resolving civil and commercial disputes. Greek legislation was not unfamiliar with ways of resolving the dispute out of court or by means of lawsuits. Mediation was established in Greece by the Greek Mediation Act 3898/2010 (hereafter GrMA) as an alternative way of resolving private disputes. The GrMA 3898/2010 did not provide for judicial mediation. Though the issue of genuine judicial mediation was the topic of discussion and concern for the Committee set up for the reform of the Greek Code of Civil Procedure (hereafter CCP) as well as the Committee that worked on the incorporation of the European Directive in Greece, the interference of judges in mediation as mediators themselves was not initially accepted, because of the fear of excluding the judges in subsequent proceeding. For that reason the Greek Mediation Act did not provide for judicial mediation. However, article 7 of L. 4055/2012 introduced a new institution of extrajudicial settlement of private disputes, the judicial mediation, and finally Article 214B was added to CCP. This new way of solving differences is not growing "competitively" but parallel to the other alternatives. This parallel institutionalization of judicial mediation enabled citizens to achieve- without recourse to judicial proceedings- an effective resolution of their differences.

Komnios, Komninos

IHU

48