Press Release: A boost for mediation in civil and commercial matters: European Parliament endorses new rules

A Directive on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters was adopted on 23 April, 2008. The purpose of the Directive was to facilitate access to cross-border dispute resolution and to promote the amicable settlement of disputes by encouraging the use of mediation and by ensuring a sound relationship between mediation and judicial proceedings. The Directive was one of the follow-up actions to the Green Paper on alternative dispute resolution presented by the Commission in 2002, the other being the European Code of Conduct for Mediators established by a group of stakeholders with the assistance of the Commission and launched in July 2004.

European Commission: MEMO/08/263: Mediation in civil and commercial matters http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/08/263&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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